The CSS Beaufort ( ) was an iron-hull gunboat that served in North Carolina and Virginia during the American Civil War. Originally launched as Caledonia at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1854, the ship was owned by James Cathcart Johnston. It saw use as a tugboat on the Dismal Swamp Canal. On July 9, 1861, Beaufort was commissioned into the navy of the state of North Carolina for use in the American Civil War. First serving on the North Carolina coast, Beaufort was present at the battles of Roanoke Island and Elizabeth City in February 1862. Escaping the Confederate defeat at Elizabeth City via the Dismal Swamp Canal, Beaufort reached Norfolk, Virginia, where she joined the James River Squadron.
On March 8, 1862, Beaufort served as an escort and ship's tender for the ironclad CSS Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Roads. In April, she supported the Confederate defense of Yorktown, Virginia, before the Confederates withdrew up the Virginia Peninsula. Before the Battle of Drewry's Bluff in mid-May 1862, Beaufort was ordered upriver and was mostly inactive until mid-1864. With Union troops having moved upriver, Beaufort saw some action, including bombarding the Fort Harrison area after Union troops had captured it. However, the ship was hampered with an understrength crew, as much of her crew had been transferred to North Carolina or to land fortifications along the James River. In January 1865, Beaufort was part of the Confederate advance before the Battle of Trent's Reach, but ended up spending hours trying to free the ironclad CSS Virginia II after the latter had run aground. On the night of April 2/3, after the fall of Richmond, Virginia, the Confederates scuttled the ships of the James River Squadron, but Beaufort failed to sink. Captured by Union forces, Beaufort was sold in September 1865. As a civilian merchant vessel, she was renamed Roanoke and was converted into a barge in 1878.
Construction and early history
Originally known as Caledonia, Beaufort was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1854. Constructed by Pusey & Jones, Caledonia had been built for James Cathcart Johnston, who named it after his plantation, although the ship as constructed was found to draw too deep of a draft to navigate to the plantation. Caledonia was originally based out of Edenton, North Carolina. Later used as a tugboat on the Dismal Swamp Canal, the vessel had a tonnage of 85 tons, a length of , a beam of , and a depth of hold of . An iron-hulled screw steamer, power was provided by a single vertical direct acting steam engine.
Early in the American Civil War, the coastline of North Carolina was recognized as being of strategic importance, and a state Military and Navy Board was created. Part of the state's defenses was the North Carolina Navy (informally known as the Mosquito Fleet). One of the Mosquito Fleet's vessels was Beaufort. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships states that Beaufort was commissioned for military service on July 9, 1861, by Lieutenant R. C. Duvall, while at Norfolk, Virginia, before then traveling to New Bern, North Carolina.