USS Fern
American Civil War Union Army Tug

USS Fern (1862-1865).
Originally named Intrepid

Intrepid , a 45-ton screw tug built for the U.S. Army at Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1861, was transferred to the Navy in October 1862. Soon renamed Fern , she served the Mississippi Squadron as a tug during the rest of the Civil War, taking part in expeditions on the Yazoo River in March 1863 and the Red River in June 1865.

USS Fern was sold in August 1865 and was thereafter employed as a civilian tug, under the same name, until about 1877.


Tug USS Fern at right
Halftone photograph of the tug Fern assisting a "city" class armored gunboat, on the Western Rivers during the Civil War.
The original image caption's identification of the ironclad as USS Benton is in error.



Confederate Phoenix: The CSS Virginia
The CSS Virginia of the Confederate States Navy destroyed two of the most formidable warships in the U.S. Navy. Suddenly, with this event, every wooden warship in every navy in the world became totally obsolete


Civil War Ships and Battles
Civil War Submarines
Civil War Naval Timeline
American Civil War Exhibits
State Battle Maps
Civil War Summary
Civil War Timeline
Women in the Civil War
Battles by Campaign
Civil War Store

American Civil War Naval Book Titles

Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter
Personal view of the Civil War Navy. The monitor saw action in several significant naval assaults by the Union's Squadron. It took part in the failed Federal attack on Sumter in April 1863. The "Nahant" also participated in the capture of the Confederate Ram "Atlanta," and in the assault on Fort Wagner

Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865
Coastal Florida had a refugee crisis as the war progressed. Escaped slaves ("contrabands") sought out the blockaders. Some joined the U.S. Navy. White men and their families sought to avoid conscription or vengeful neighbors/regulators and eventually sought refuge with the blockaders

Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama
In July 1862, the Confederate captain Raphael Semmes received orders to report to Liverpool, where he would take command of a secret new British-built steam warship. His mission: to prey on Union commercial vessels and undermine the North's ability to continue the war

The Hunt for the Albemarle:
Anatomy of a Gunboat War

The Confederate ironclad Albemarle was the key to the river wars in North Carolina.

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles

Halls of Honor
The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War

Raise The Alabama
She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France

The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one

Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles
The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor

 

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress
US Naval Archives


Search
AmericanCivilWar.com
 
Enter the keywords you are looking for and the site will be searched and all occurrences of your request will be displayed. You can also enter a date format, April 19,1862 or September 1864.
Battle of Shiloh
Civil War Map
First Manassas
Civil War Pictures
Civil War Cooking
Gettysburg
Civil War Ships