USS Curlew (1862)

History
United States
Name	Curlew (originally Florence)
Namesake	Curlew
Acquired	December 17, 1862
Commissioned	February 16, 1863
Decommissioned	July 5, 1865
Fate	Sold, August 17, 1865
General characteristics
Type	Stern-wheel steamer, converted into a gunboat
Tonnage	196 tons
Length	159 ft (48 m)
Beam	32 ft 1 in (9.78 m)
Draught	4 ft (1.2 m)
Propulsion	2x steam engines
Speed	4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph)
Armament	8x 24-pounder howitzers (February 1863)
Armour	Tinclad

USS Curlew was a Union Navy stern-wheel steamer that saw service during the American Civil War. Built in 1862 in Pennsylvania as a civilian vessel, she was purchased by the Union Navy on December 17, 1862. Converted into a tinclad gunboat, she saw service from 1863 to 1865, often serving on the Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Tennessee River. In May 1863, she was involved in a minor action against Confederate forces on the Mississippi River off of the shore of Arkansas. July saw Curlew take part in an expedition up the Red River of the South, the Tensas River, the Black River, and the Ouachita River that captured two steamers and destroyed two more and a sawmill. On May 24, 1864, she dueled with Pratt's Texas Battery while on the Mississippi River, and on November 4 of that same year, was near the action of the Battle of Johnsonville but was unable to join the fighting. Decommissioned on June 5, 1865, she was sold in mid-August and her further career is unknown.