USS Fahkee (1862)

	The merchant steamship Fah-Kee, which served as USS Fahkee during the Civil War
History
United States
Name:	USS Fahkee
Laid down:	date unknown
Launched:	1862
Acquired:	15 July 1863
Commissioned:	24 September 1863
Decommissioned:	28 June 1865
Stricken:	1865 (est.)
Homeport:	Port Royal, South Carolina
Fate:	sold, 10 August 1865
General characteristics
Type:	Collier
Displacement:	660 long tons (670 t)
Length:	163 ft (50 m)
Beam:	29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)
Draft:	13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
Propulsion:	Steam engine; screw-propelled;
Speed:	12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Complement:	73
Armament:	2 × 24-pounder howitzers; 1 × 10-pounder rifle;

USS Fahkee (1862) was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was built in 1862 at Williamsburg, New York, purchased by the Navy on 15 July 1863; and commissioned on 24 September 1863 with Acting Master F. R. Webb in command.

The Union Navy used her as a collier and freight supply ship assigned to assist Union Navy ships patrolling Confederate waterways.

Civil War service

Assigned to support the North Atlantic Blockade

A coal and freight supply ship, Fahkee served the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron from the time of her commissioning to the close of the war. She carried cargo from New York City, Norfolk, Virginia, and Newport News, Virginia to the fleet on the North Carolina coast, as well as giving towing services and patrolling on blockade at frequent intervals.

Operation in Battle

Fahkee first came under fire on 3 January 1864 in Lockwood's Folly Inlet near Wilmington, North Carolina, when she passed through musket and shell fire from the shore to investigate Bendigo, a blockade runner grounded and afire. Fahkee shelled the ship to further her destruction, which was completed the next day by other ships.

While blockading Wilmington, North Carolina, in the spring and summer of 1864, Fahkee was several times fired upon by Confederate shore batteries, and on 24 August, engaged a blockade runner. Returning to the same area after a voyage to New York and Hampton Roads, she twice fired on grounded blockade runners in December. In January 1865, she carried cargo from Norfolk to Beaufort and to the fleet operating against Fort Fisher.

Reassigned to the South Atlantic Squadron

In April 1865, at the close of the war, Fahkee was assigned to the South Atlantic Squadron, and from Port Royal, South Carolina, provisioned ships at Charleston, South Carolina, and those cruising the coast of the Carolinas. She also cruised with the Squadron off Cuba before arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 19 June.

Post-war decommissioning and disposal

Fahkee was decommissioned on 28 June, and sold in Philadelphia on 10 August.

References

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

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