History
United States
Name	USS Oriole
Acquired	7 December 1864
Commissioned	22 March 1865
Decommissioned	4 August 1865
Fate	Sold, 17 August 1865
General characteristics
Type	Gunboat
Displacement	137 long tons (139 t)
Length	125 ft (38 m)
Beam	26 ft 5 in (8.05 m)
Draft	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Depth of hold	7 ft 7 in (2.31 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine, stern wheel
Armament	2 × 30-pounder Parrott rifles 1 × 12-pounder rifle 6 × 24-pounder guns

The first USS Oriole was a sternwheel river steamship in the Union Navy. She was named after the bird, the oriole.

Oriole was acquired as the Florence Miller from John Swassey & Co. at Cincinnati, Ohio on 7 December 1864; converted to a sternwheel gunboat by Mr. Joseph Brown at Mound City, Illinois; and commissioned as Oriole on 22 March 1865, Acting Master Edward Alford in command.

Assigned to the Mississippi River Squadron on 3 February 1865 while still named Florence Miller, Oriole departed Mound City on 22 March for service in the 5th Naval District under Lt. Comdr. E. Y. McCauley.

She performed blockade duties on the Mississippi River from Natchez to Vicksburg, until General Robert E. Lee's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia on 9 April. The gunboat was retained in the Mississippi Squadron for towing and patrol duties through July 1865.

On 4 August Oriole decommissioned at Mound City and was later sold there to Mr. Thomas Scott on 17 August 1865.

See also

• Anaconda Plan

References

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