USS Advance (1862)

Lord Clyde, named for the British Army commander in Crimea and India, was built for the packet service between Ireland and Scotland operated by the Dublin & Glasgow Sailing and Steam Packet Company.[1] She was launched at Greenock, Scotland, by Caird & Co. as Yard No.97 on 3 July 1862.[2][3] Lord Clyde was an iron-hulled vessel with a length of 237.5 ft (72.4 m), a beam of 26.1 ft (8.0 m), a depth of 14.8 ft (4.5 m) and a draft of 11.0 ft (3.4 m). She measured 778 GRT and 457 NRT and was powered by a 2-cylinder oscillating side-lever steam engine of 350 nhp, also made by Caird, driving two side paddle wheels.[1][3] On completion she conducted sea trials on 18 September 1862 and sailed from Greenock five days later for Kingstown, Dublin to commence her regular service with Glasgow.[3][4]

During the American Civil War, a growing shortage of supplies for the manufacture of uniforms for North Carolina troops in 1862 prompted incoming governor Zebulon B. Vance to propose that the state purchase its own blockade runner.[5] With the assistance of British businessman Alexander Collie, Lord Clyde was purchased by the state of North Carolina and on 28 June 1863 she successfully ran the Union blockade into Wilmington.[1][5] At Wilmington the ship was changed to local registry and renamed Advance (some sources state A. D. Vance in honor of the Governor).[6][note 1]

Three months later, a half share in Advance was sold to the firm of Power, Low & Co. in order to raise funds towards purchasing additional ships.[5] She successfully passed through the blockade between the Cape Fear River and Nassau or Bermuda some seventeen times between June 1863 and September 1864, under the command of Lt. John J. Guthrie, CSN.[1][6]

Advance was commanded by Capt. Tom Crossan when captured by USS Santiago de Cuba on 10 September 1864 when she attempted to put to sea from Wilmington, North Carolina. Gov. Vance attributed her capture to use of low grade North Carolina bituminous coal and denounced Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory for giving the stockpile of smokeless anthracite to CSS Tallahassee (a raiding cruiser) so that none was left for Advance to run out of Wilmington safely. Writing on 3 January 1865, Vance complained:

Why a State struggling for the common good, to clothe and provide for its troops in the public service, should meet with no more favor than a blockade gambler passes my comprehension.

Advance was condemned by the New York prize court, and she was purchased by the Navy that same month; then commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 28 October 1864, Lt. Comdr. John H. Upshur in command.

USS Frolic (formerly USS Advance) at Naples, Italy, ca. 1865–69

On 24 June 1865, Frolic departed the east coast to join the newly formed European Squadron and arrived at Flushing in the Netherlands on 17 July. Over the next four years, she made ceremonial visits to ports in Europe including many on the Mediterranean littoral. Those events reached a particularly high frequency during 1867 and 1868 when David Glasgow Farragut commanded the squadron. On 22 March 1869, the ship departed Lisbon, Portugal, to return to the United States. She arrived in New York City on 30 April and was placed out of commission there on 8 May 1869.

Recommissioned on 24 September 1869, Frolic patrolled the fishing grounds off Nova Scotia between April and October 1870. She arrived at Washington, D.C., on 26 October 1870 and was decommissioned there on 11 November for repairs. On 18 January 1872, she was recommissioned at Washington, Lt. Comdr. G. C. Remey in command. On 19 February, Frolic departed Washington, D.C., to relieve USS Tallapoosa on patrol off the New England coast. She concluded that assignment in May and returned to Washington on the 24th.

Between 12 and 16 June 1872, she made the passage between Washington, D.C. and New York City. At the latter port, she became station ship and, on the 29th, broke the flag of Vice Admiral Stephen C. Rowan. She served alternately as station ship at New York and on patrols at sea until 30 April 1874 at which time she was decommissioned at Philadelphia for repairs. Recommissioned on 18 August 1875, Frolic departed Philadelphia for duty on the South Atlantic Station a week later. She cruised the coasts of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil for a little over two years. While at Montevideo on 20 April 1877, Second Class Fireman James M. Trout attempted to rescue a shipmate from drowning, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.[7]

She returned to Washington, D.C., on 20 October 1877 and was decommissioned there for the last time on 31 October 1877. Frolic remained at Washington, in ordinary, until sold to Mr. J. P. Agnew, of Alexandria, Virginia, on 1 October 1883.

• Blockade runners of the American Civil War
• Ships captured in the American Civil War
• Union Navy
• Confederate Navy
• Bibliography of American Civil War naval history

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found Confederate service here and Union service here.
• USS Frolic (II) ex USS Advance (II) (1864-1865)
• USS Advance

• Scharf, John Thomas (1894). History of the Confederate States Navy from Its Organization to the Surrender of Its Last Vessel. J. McDonough.
• Still, Jr., William N.; Taylor, John M.; Delaney, Norman C. (1998). Raiders & Blockaders: The American Civil War Afloat. Washington, D.C: Brassey's Inc. p. 263. ISBN 978-1-57488-164-6.
• Tucker, Spencer (2010). The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO, 829 pages. ISBN 978-1-59884-338-5.