USS Gamage (1864)
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| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Ordered | as Willie Gamage |
| Laid down | date unknown |
| Launched | 1864 |
| Acquired | 22 December 1864 |
| Commissioned | 23 March 1865 |
| Decommissioned | 29 July 1865 |
| Stricken | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate | Sold, 17 August 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 187 tons |
| Length | 148 ft 6 in (45.26 m) |
| Beam | 30 ft 3 in (9.22 m) |
| Draught | depth of hold 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | not known |
| Complement | not known |
| Armament |
|
USS Gamage was a large steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the last months of the American Civil War. She was used as a gunboat to collect naval assets of the defeated Confederacy.
Gamage was built as merchant steamer Willie Gamage in 1864 at Cincinnati, Ohio; purchased there 22 December 1864; and converted into a gunboat by Joseph Brown of Cincinnati. She was commissioned at Mound City, Illinois, 23 March 1865, Acting Master William Neil in command.
In search of Confederate president Jefferson Davis
Assigned to the 5th Division of the Mississippi Squadron, Gamage departed Mound City 30 March 1865 and arrived Natchez, Mississippi, 2 April where she remained alert to intercept Confederate president Jefferson Davis, his cabinet and other Confederate leaders should they attempt to cross the Mississippi River.
The President of the Confederacy and members of his staff were captured 10 May at Irwinville, Georgia.
