USS Daisy (1850)
USS Daisy (1850) was a tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy and to assist Union Navy ships requiring her towing services.
 USS Daisy off Mound City, Illinois, during the American Civil War. The Mound City hospital is in the background. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | USS Daisy |
| Namesake: | The well-known flower, common in the United States and Europe. |
| Ordered: | as Mulford |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 1850 at Chicago, Illinois |
| Christened: | as Mulford |
| Acquired: | 1 October 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 24 October 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 1865 |
| Renamed: | USS Daisy |
| Stricken: | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, 17 August 1865 at Mound City, Illinois |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Tugboat |
| Displacement: | 50 long tons (51 t) |
| Length: | 73 ft 4 in (22.35 m) |
| Beam: | 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m) |
| Draft: | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine, screw-propelled |
| Speed: | 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) |
| Complement: | Unknown |
| Armament: | Unknown |
Assigned to the Mississippi River
Mulford — a steam tugboat — was built in 1850 at Chicago, Illinois, and acquired by the War Department for use in the Mississippi River and its tributaries early in the Civil War.
She was transferred to the Navy on 1 October 1862 and renamed Daisy on 24 October. Her former commanding officer, Master D. C. Bowers, U. S. Army, was appointed an Acting Ensign in the Navy and continued in command.
Final operations and decommissioning
Daisy served actively as a tug in the upper Mississippi River until the end of the war when she was taken to Mound City, Illinois. She was sold there on 17 August 1865.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.