USS Mendota
History
United States
Launched	13 January 1863
Acquired	1 February 1864
Commissioned	2 May 1864
Decommissioned	12 May 1865
Fate	Sold, 7 December 1867
General characteristics
Class and type	Sassacus-class gunboat
Displacement	974 tons
Length	205 ft (62 m)
Beam	35 ft (11 m)
Draft	8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
Propulsion	steam engine side wheel-propelled
Speed	11 knots (11 kn)
Armament	two 100-pounder guns four 9-inch smoothbore guns two 24-pounder guns two 20-pounder guns

USS Mendota was a steamer built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. With her heavy guns, she was planned by the Union Navy for use as a bombardment gunboat, but also as a gunboat stationed off Confederate waterways to prevent their trading with foreign countries.

Service history

Mendota, a sidewheel gunboat, was launched 13 January 1863 by F. Z. Tucker, Brooklyn, New York; acquired by the Navy 1 February 1864; and commissioned 2 May 1864, Comdr. Edward T. Nichols in command. From the day of her commissioning in 1864, Mendota was assigned to the James River Division, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The first ten months she served as a picket ship near Four Mile Creek. Her guns were used to prevent the establishment of Confederate batteries or entrenchments which would threaten river communications or imperil a small Union Army base camp. Action on 28 July was particularly intense. During her last two months of service, she directed ship movements at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and also at the mouth of the Delaware River. After the war, Mendota decommissioned 12 May 1865 and was laid up at League Island, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until sold 7 December 1867.

References

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

External links

• Media related to USS Mendota (ship, 1863) at Wikimedia Commons
• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center