USS Velocity (1862)

Velocity was a British blockade-running schooner captured by USS Kensington and USS Rachel Seaman at Sabine, Texas, on 25 September 1862; and was purchased by the Navy from the Key West prize court, Key West, Florida, on 30 September. Velocity joined the West Gulf Blockading Squadron shortly after her acquisition, deploying with the blockade off Sabine Pass. There, on 25 November, she assisted Kensington, Rachel Seaman, and another prize vessel, Dan, in the capture of the British schooner Maria and the Confederate schooner Course. Velocity was, herself, recaptured together with USS Morning Light on 21 January 1863 at Sabine Pass, resulting in a temporary lifting of the Union blockade on the Texas coast. She is believed to have continued to serve as a Confederate gunboat, but her final disposition is unknown.

• Blockade runners of the American Civil War
• List of ships captured in American Civil War

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