USS Cohasset (1860)

USS Cohasset (1860) was a tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy for various purposes: as a tugboat, dispatch vessel, escort vessel, and even as a gunboat.

History
United States
Name:	USS Cohasset
Laid down:	date unknown
Launched:	1860
Acquired:	13 September 1861
In service:	26 October 1861
Out of service:	1882
Stricken:	1892 (est.)
Homeport:	Boston Navy Yard
Fate:	sold, 9 May 1892
General characteristics
Type:	Tugboat
Displacement:	100 long tons (100 t)
Length:	82 ft (25 m)
Beam:	18 ft 10 in (5.74 m)
Draft:	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Propulsion:	Steam engine
Speed:	8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h)
Complement:	12
Armament:	1 × 20-pounder rifled gun

Cohasset — a tug originally called E. D. Fogg and later Narragansett — was built in 1860 at Providence, Rhode Island; purchased by the Navy on 13 September 1861; outfitted at New York Navy Yard; delivered at Hampton Roads, Virginia on 26 October 1861; and assigned to duty with the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Pilot Thomas Evans in command.

Assigned to the Atlantic Blockade

From 26 October 1861-July 1864, Cohasset sailed in the Norfolk, Virginia, area and in the rivers of Virginia as a picket and dispatch boat, carried mail and supplies, towed coal barges, acted as guard for Minnesota, and shared in the fighting in the York, James, and Nansemond Rivers.

Providing harbor defense

Ordered to Beaufort, North Carolina in July 1864, Cohasset was used for harbor defense and towing until 1 October 1864, when she returned to Norfolk for duty towing coal barges in the James River.

Post-Civil War activity

Cohasset arrived at Boston Navy Yard on 1 June 1865. She served as yard tug there until 1882, when she was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island.

Cohasset was sold on 9 May 1892 at Newport, Rhode Island.

References

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