The second USS Memphis was a 7-gun screw steamer, built by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1861, which briefly served as a Confederate blockade runner before being captured and taken into the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was destroyed by fire in 1883.
Description
The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was powered by a 2-cylinder steam engine having cylinders of diameter by stroke. Rated at 200 nhp, it drove a single screw propeller, giving a speed of . She was assessed at , .
History
Memphis was built by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, United Kingdom for Peter Denny and Thomas Begbie. She was launched on April 3, 1862. Her port of registry was London and the United Kingdom Official Number 44836 was allocated. They were kept at bay by gunfire from Fort Beauregard. Memphis was captured by sidewheel gunboat outbound from Charleston with a cargo of cotton on July 31, 1862, and purchased by the Union Navy from a prize court at New York City on September 4, 1862.
Union blockade ship
Memphis was commissioned on October 4, 1862, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Pendleton G. Watmough in command. Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Memphis sailed for Charleston and began service on October 14 with the capture of British steamer Ouachita bound for Havana, Cuba. She continued patrol in 1862–1863. On January 4, 1863, she joined sidewheel steamer in taking Confederate sloop Mercury with a cargo of turpentine for Nassau, Bahamas. On January 31, Confederate ironclads CSS Palmetto State and CSS Chicora made a dash out of Charleston Harbor into the midst of the blockading ships. Screw steamer was rammed and disabled by Palmetto State while sidewheel steamer was next attacked and left for Memphis to take in tow. The two rams then retired. On 29 August 1871, she was reported to have been wrecked in the Hatteras Inlet during a hurricane. All on board were rescued. She was on a voyage from New York to New Orleans, Louisiana. Mississippi was sold c.1875 to Frederick Baker, Boston. In 1879, she was sold to H. Hastings & Co., Boston. Mississippi was sold in 1881 to Edward Lawrence, New York. She was sold in 1882 to the Oregon Improvement Co, Portland, Oregon. On May 13, 1883, when she was gutted by a dock fire at Seattle, Washington.