Name USS Clyde Laid down date unknown Acquired 29 July 1863 Length 61 m | Ordered as Neptune Launched date unknown Commissioned 29 July 1863 | |
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USS Clyde (1863) was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was assigned by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
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Neptune captured and converted to Union Navy use as Clyde
Clyde — a sidewheel steamer — was captured as Neptune on 14 June 1863 by Lackawanna and sent to Key West, Florida for condemnation. Sent to New York City to be surveyed and appraised, she was purchased by the Navy Department and placed in commission on 29 July 1863, Acting Master A. A. Owens in command.
Supporting blockade operations in the Gulf of Mexico
Departing New York on 30 July 1863, the steamer arrived at Washington, D.C. on 3 August. Her name was changed to Clyde on 11 August. Clyde sailed from Washington on 6 September and arrived at Key West on 13 September for duty with the East Gulf Blockading Squadron.
She patrolled the coastal and inland waters of western Florida and among the Florida Keys until the end of the war. She captured the schooner Amaranth on 27 September, and participated in two boat expeditions up the Suwannee River and the Waccasassa River, capturing nearly 200 bales of cotton.
Post-war decommissioning and sale
Arriving at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 10 August 1865, Clyde was decommissioned on 17 August, taken to New York City and sold on 25 October.
Henry Titus purchased the Clyde and renamed her the Indian River. He intended to use the steamer for shipping canned fish and oyster from the Indian River in Florida. Upon arriving at Indian River Inlet, the steamer grounded hard in the shallow inlet and could not be refloated.