History
United States
Ordered	as Restless
Laid down	date unknown
Launched	1861
Acquired	30 September 1862
Commissioned	1 October 1862
Decommissioned	1865
Stricken	1865 (est.)
Fate	Sold, 20 November 1865
General characteristics
Displacement	50 tons
Length	not known
Beam	not known
Draught	not known
Propulsion	steam engine
Speed	not known
Complement	not known
Armament	not known

USS Mistletoe was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was planned by the Union Navy for use as a tugboat whose task it was to tow other ships or to free them when they became stuck or otherwise inoperable.

Mistletoe, a small steam tug, was built as Restless at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1861; purchased by the U.S. War Department early in the Civil War for service in the Western Flotilla and renamed; transferred to the Navy at Cairo, Illinois, 30 September 1862; and commissioned 1 October 1862.

Mistletoe served as a tug at the Cairo Naval Base until joining the Mississippi Squadron downriver 7 September 1863.

After the end of the Civil War, she was sold at public auction at Mound City, Illinois, to S. Horner 20 November 1864. She was redocumented as Ella Wood 6 February 1866 and remained in merchant service until 1871.

References

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