USS Saugus (1863)

Saugus with a minesweeping rake
History
United States
NameUSS Saugus
NamesakeSaugus, Massachusetts
Awarded1862
BuilderHarlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware
Laid down1862
Launched16 December 1863
Commissioned7 April 1864
Decommissioned13 June 1865
Recommissioned30 April 1869
RenamedUSS Centaur 15 June 1869
RenamedUSS Saugus 10 August 1869
Decommissioned31 December 1870
Recommissioned9 November 1872
Decommissioned9 March 1874
Recommissioned10 October 1874
Decommissioned8 October 1877
FateSold, 15 May 1891
General characteristics
Class and typeCanonicus-class monitor
Displacement2,100 long tons (2,100 t)
Length223 ft (68.0 m)
Beam43 ft 4 in (13.2 m)
Draft13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement100 officers and enlisted men
Armament2 × 15-inch (381 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns
Armor

USS Saugus was a single-turreted Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The vessel was assigned to the James River Flotilla of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon completion in April 1864. The ship spent most of her time stationed up the James River where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against a sortie by the Confederate ironclads of the James River Squadron. She engaged Confederate artillery batteries during the year and later participated in both attacks on Fort Fisher, defending the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina, in December 1864 – January 1865. Saugus returned to the James River after the capture of Fort Fisher and remained there until Richmond, Virginia, was occupied in early April.

A few days later, the monitor was transferred to Washington, D.C., and used to temporarily incarcerate some of the suspected conspirators after the assassination of President Lincoln. She was decommissioned in June and recommissioned in early 1869 for service in the Caribbean and off the coast of Florida. Saugus was again recommissioned in late 1872 and generally remained active until late 1877. She was condemned in 1886 and sold for scrap in 1891.