USS Thistle (1862)

Career (US)	Union Navy Jack
Ordered:	as Spiteful
Laid down:	date unknown
Launched:	date unknown
Acquired:	1 October 1862
In service:	October 1862
Out of service:	12 August 1865
Struck:	1865 (est.)
Fate:	sold, 17 August 1865
General characteristics
Displacement:	50 tons
Length:	not known
Beam:	not known
Draught:	not known
Propulsion:	steam engine side wheel-propelled
Speed:	not known
Complement:	not specified
Armament:	one 12-pounder smoothbore gun

USS Thistle (1862) was a Union Army steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

Thistle was placed in service and used by the Navy as a tugboat and, when the opportunity presented itself, as a gunship, in the blockade of ports of the Confederate States of America.

Civil War operations

Transfer of Thistle from the Army to the Navy

Thistle -- formerly the Army tug Spiteful -- was transferred by the War Department to the Union Navy on 1 October 1862.

Assigned to the Mississippi Squadron as a tug and recon vessel

Thistle deployed with the Mississippi Squadron as a tug and reconnaissance vessel in October 1862 and participated in the capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Port, Arkansas, on 11 January 1863.

From 14 to 27 March, she took part in an expedition into Steele's Bayou, Mississippi, attempting to find an entrance into the Yazoo River, Mississippi, and a rear approach to the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi.

After the expedition failed, Thistle rejoined the squadron in the Mississippi River. There, she performed dispatch and reconnaissance duty for the remainder of the war.

Post-war decommissioning and sale

Thistle was decommissioned at Mound City, Illinois., on 12 August 1865 and was sold at public auction there on 17 August to J. T. Haight.

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

See also

• United States Navy
• American Civil War
• Stevens Battery

External links

• Thistle