USS G. W. Blunt (1861)

USS G. W. Blunt (1861) was a Sandy Hook pilot boat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. See George W. Blunt, No. 11 for more details. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat as well as a dispatch boat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways. As a pilot boat, her stern was decorated with a scroll & shield, on which were revealed the national flags of England, France, and America.[1]

History
United States
Name: USS G. W. Blunt
Namesake: George W. Blunt
Owner: N. Y. Pilots
Operator: Captain Joseph Henderson
Port of registry: American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping
Ordered: as Blunt
Laid down: date unknown
Launched: date unknown
Completed: 1856
Acquired: 23 November 1861
Commissioned: 4 December 1861
Decommissioned: 13 May 1863
In service: 2 June 1863
Out of service: 16 August 1865
Struck: 1865 (est.)
Nickname(s): Blunt
Fate: sold, 20 October 1865
Status: sank at sea, 1875
General characteristics
Tonnage: 140 tons
Length: 76' 6"
Beam: 20' 6"
Draught: depth of hold 8' 9"
Propulsion: schooner sail
Speed: 10 knots
Complement: not known
Armament:
  • one 12-pounder gun
  • one 12 pounder rifle

Towards the war's end, she was reconfigured as a rescue and salvage ship. Her new task was to remove many of the shipwrecks, hulks, and other in-water debris of war.

Construction and service - commissioned in 1861

According to American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, the G. W. Blunt was built in 1856 for the New York Pilots.[2] The boat was named after George W. Blunt son of Edmund Blunt.[3]

When the Civil War began, several pilot boats were transferred into government Dispatch boats. The G. W. Blunt, formerly Blunt, was a wooden two-masted 121 ton schooner, acquired by the Navy in New York City on November 23, 1861. She was commissioned on December 4, 1861 and acting Master was Henry Sherwood who was in command.[4] [5]

Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockade

Arriving at Port Royal, South Carolina, on December 11, 1861, G. W. Blunt served as a mail and dispatch boat for the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron between Charleston, South Carolina, Wassaw Sound, Georgia, and Fernandina, Florida. En route to Georgetown, South Carolina, on April 19, 1862, she captured by the blockade-running schooner Wave with a cargo of cotton.[4]

Repaired in Philadelphia and returned to blockade duty

For the following year the G. W. Blunt was on a blockade duty off Charleston and assisted in capturing several more vessels. She departed Port Royal, South Carolina, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 7, 1863 and was decommissioned for repairs on May 13, 1863. Recommissioned on June 2, 1863, the G. W. Blunt rejoined the blockading squadron off Charleston, patrolling the many small inlets and bays near the main harbor.[4]

Conversion of the ship to salvage duty

Cruising on Charleston station on 1864, the G. W. Blunt was sent to Port Royal on August 7, 1864 and on August 25th was fitted with diving equipment for salvage duty. She worked on many wrecks, including Constance on November 13th and the USS Housatonic, (sunk February 17, 1864 by Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley) from November 15th to 19th. She was sent to Savannah, Georgia, on March 1, 1865 to clear obstructions from the harbor, and returned to Charleston April 1, 1865.[4]

Post-war decommissioning and sale

The G. W. Blunt was decommissioned on August 16, 1865 at Port Royal and was sold there on October 20, 1865.[4]

In 1875, the G. W. Blunt, started leaking off Gay Head and was run ashore at Jones Inlet off the Long Island shore, 30 miles from Sandy Hook. She was proved a total loss.[6][7]

References
  1. New York Daily Times, December 17, 1856
  2. "American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping". Mysticseaport.org. 1859. Retrieved 20 January 2020. American Lloyd’s Register of American and Foreign Shipping for the schooner George W. Blunt.
  3. NY Pilot Boat 11 the George W. Blunt
  4. Navy Department. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Naval History Division (Washington) (1968). Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. 3. Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. p. 2-3. G. W. Blunt, formerly Blunt, was a wooden two-masted schooner acquired by the Navy in New York 23 November 1861.
  5. Dictionary of American naval fighting ships, Vol. 3, www.Worldcat.org
  6. Hudson New York Daily Star, 1875
  7. Pilot Lore From Sail to Stream, 1922

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

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