USSBrockenborough

History
United States
Name	USSBrockenborough
Ordered	asG. L. Brockenborough
Acquired	November 15, 1862
In service	1862
Out of service	May 27, 1863
Stricken	1863 (est.)
Captured	byUnion Navyforces October 16, 1862
Fate	Sunk, May 27, 1863
General characteristics
Type	Ship's tender/gunboat
Propulsion	Sail
Speed	varied
Complement	4
Armament	1 × rifledhowitzer

USSBrockenboroughwas asloopcaptured by theUnion Navyduring theAmerican Civil War.

She was used by the Union Navy primarily as aship's tenderand also as agunboatstationed offConfederateports to enforce theUnion blockadewhich prevented trade with foreign countries.

Brockenboroughwas wrecked in a storm and her crew burned her to prevent capture.

Capture ofBrockenborough

On October 16, 1862, thecommanding officerof the Union steamerFort Henry—ActingLieutenantEdward Y. McCauley— ordered ActingMasterRobert B. Smith to lead a reconnaissance expedition up theApalachicola River.During the ensuing operation, Smith's boats exchanged fire with Southerners ashore and signaledSagamorefor help. That gunboat's launch brought ahowitzerinto the fray, "…cleared the banks of theguerrillas,"and enabled the Union boats to continue on upstream. A short distance past the town ofApalachicola, Florida,Smith found a sailing ship which had grounded inside the mouth of a creek. She proved to beG. L. Brockenborough,asloopcarrying 64 bales of cotton. Her master and a single passenger were still on board. The Union sailors refloated the vessel and took her toKey West, Florida,where she was condemned by theprize courtand purchased by the Navy on November 15.

Civil War service

Sent back to waters off the Apalachicola,Brockenborough— also spelledBrockenboro— served the East Gulf Blockading Squadron as a tender to the double-ended sidewheelerPort Royaland the former ferryboatSomerset.

On February 18, 1863, while anchored off New Inlet, St. George's Sound,Somersetsighted aschoonersailing westward along the southern coast of St. George's Island; and her captain —Lieutenant CommanderA. F. Crosman — sentBrockenboroughin pursuit. She overtook and capturedHortense,a schooner bound fromHavana, Cuba,forMobile, Alabama,with an escorted cargo. Crosman manned the prize fromSomersetand sent her to Key West, for adjudication, and she was condemned by the prize court there.

On March 20, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant George E. Welch — who commanded the UnionbarkAmanda— sent his executive officer, Acting Master Richard J. Hoffner, inBrockenboroughto the mouth of theOcklocknee Riverto investigate a report that a schooner was loading cotton at that place.

The sloop, accompanied byAmanda's launch, struggled across the marshy waters of St. George's Sound for three days before reaching the Ocklocknee where Hoffner found "…a dismasted vessel lying close to [the river's] starboard bank…." While the Union party approached the partially sunken ship, the Southerners who had been on board escaped to shore in boats. Hoffner tried to tow his quarry back toward thesound,but the prize — the schoonerOnward— was stranded by the ebbing tide some two hours later.

The next morning, whenOnwardwas again afloat, the expedition once more headed for deep water, but took the wrong channel and again struck the bottom. After strenuously, although futilely, striving to pull free, the Union sailors decided to wait for help from the rising tide. However, a short while later, a Confederate force of about 40 mounted soldiers and 150 infantrymen arrived and attacked the expedition.

Some of thesailorsfought back with ahowitzerand muskets while their companions set fire to the prize before the whole Union party withdrew inBrockenboroughand the launch. Both scraped on the bottom but were kept in motion by wading sailors who dragged the boats for about half a mile over mud flats before they floated free. Confederate riflemen kept the party under fire throughout the retreat, killing one man outright and wounding eight others, including Acting Master Hoffner.

Once the boats were free of the mud, they proceeded to waters offSt. Mark's, Florida,where the wounded were embarked in the Union steamerHendrick Hudson.

Brockenboroughsoon returned to St. Georges Sound and, some two months later, was within signal distance of USSPort Royal,when boats from that ship captured the cotton-laden sloopFashionon 23 May.

That night a stiff breeze from the northeast arose and the next day it began to increase steadily in intensity. By 27 May, the wind had reachedhurricaneintensity and had created a shoreward, 8kn(9.2 mph; 15 km/h) current through the West Pass in St. George's Sound, threatening to driveBrockenboroughashore on the mainland where she and her crew would be at the mercy of Confederate forces.

On 28 May the sloop was driven ashore by the wind and wrecked on St. George's Island where she was set afire to prevent her being recaptured by the South.

References

This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.