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Civil War era lithograph of USS Hibiscus

(1864-1866).

Career (USA)

 Name: USS Hibiscus

 Namesake: Any of the herbs, shrubs, or trees

of genus Hibiscus; many of which

have large showy flowers.

Owner: S. M. Pook  

Laid down: date unknown

Launched: in 1864 at Fairhaven, Connecticut

Acquired: 16 November 1864Commissioned: 29 December 1864

Decommissioned: 19 August 1865 at New York City

Maiden voyage: New York City to Tampa, Florida

Struck: 1866 (est.)

Homeport: Tampa, Florida

Fate: sold, 5 October 1866

Status: lost at sea on 1 May 1873

General characteristics

Type: screw steamer  

Displacement: 490 tons

Tons burthen: 406 tons

Length: not known

Beam: not known

Draught: not known

Propulsion: steam engine

screw-propelled

Speed: 9 knots

Complement: not known

USS  H ibiscus  (1864)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

USS  H ibiscus  (1864) was a steamer acquired by the

Union Navy towards the end of the American Civil War.

She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways

of the Confederacy to prevent the South from tradingwith other countries.

Contents

1 Purchased at New York City in 1864

2 Assigned to the Southern Blockade

3 End-of-war activity and decommissioning

4 Sank 

5 See also6 References

7 External links

Purchased at New York City in 1864

 Hibiscus was purchased at New York City from S. M.

Pook on 16 November 1864; and commissioned there on

29 December 1864, Lt. William L. Martine in command.

The ship and her sister USS Spirea are described during

trials in November 1864: "The new twin-screw steamer 

 Hybiscus [sic] made her official trial trip in New York 

harbor on the 3d. This vessel and a sister ship were

constructed for the purpose of demonstrating the plans of 

a light draught gunboat which should be able to carry a

heavy battery, and at the same time to place the

machinery so far below the water line as to preclude

injury to it by the enemy’s shot. These vessels were

 planned and constructed by Mr. Samuel H. Pook, of Fair Haven, Conn. The engines selected for these vessels are

known as Wright’s segmental engine. The Hybiscus, with

about 25 pounds pressure of steam, made eleven knots,

the engines working finely. The vessel was turned around

in a very small space, and in four minutes and eighteen

seconds of time. Her mean draught of water is 6 feet 7

inches, she drawing 6 feet 10 inches aft and 4 feet 4

inches forward, and this with her bunkers stowed full of 

coal." [1]

Assigned to the Southern Blockade

She sailed from New York on 29 January 1865 and

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Armament: two 30-pounder guns

four 24-pounder guns

reached Tampa, Florida, via Port Royal, South Carolina,

and Key West, Florida, on 17 February. Hibiscus

 patrolled out of Tampa, Florida, until the end of July,

 putting in at Cedar Keys and St. Andrews Bay as well as

Key West during this period.

On 11 April 1865 off Crystal River, Sea Bird , which served as tender to Hibiscus, captured small

Confederate sloops Florida and Annie with cargos of loose and baled cotton.

End-of-war activity and decommissioning

With the end of the war, Hibiscus sailed north and on 11 August stood into New York. She decommissioned

there 19 August 1865 and was sold 5 October 1866.

Sank 

The Hibiscus sank off New Jersey 30 2 April 1873 (See New York Times, 2 May 1873, page 8). The

shipwreck known to local divers as the Emerald Wreck has been tentatively identified as the Hibiscus ScubaDiving - New Jersey & Long Island New York (http://njscuba.net/sites/site_emerald.html).

See also

United States Navy

American Civil War 

Confederate States Navy

References

United States Army and Navy Journal, Volume 2, p.189. November 14, 1864. http://books.google.com

/books?jtp=186&id=3x4_AQAAMAAJ&output=text

1.

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

entry can be found here (http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h6/hibiscus-i.htm).

External links

USS Hibiscus (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-h/hibiscus.htm)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Hibiscus_(1864)&oldid=636993460"

Categories: Ships of the Union Navy Steamships of the United States Navy

Gunboats of the United States Navy American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States 1864 ships

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