USS Maumee-- Part 2: Wilmington and Richmond

The USS Maumee was launched at New York Navy Yard  2 July 1863, and commissioned September 29, 1864, under command of Lt.Cmdr. Ralph Chandler.

It sailed to Norfolk, Va., October 2 and jointed the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  On the 26th, she got underway searching for the Confederate raider CSS Tallahassee as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia.  By 8 November, she was back in Norfolk preparing for  the attack on Fort Fisher, which guarded the port of Wilmington, N.C..

ATTACKS ON FORT FISHER

The first attempt to take the fort December 24-25, 1864, was unsuccessful, but the fleet (and Maumee) returned January 13-15, 1865, and this time succeeded.

On February 15, the Maumee was ordered into the Cape Fear River to support Union movement toward Wilmington.  When that port city fell, the Maumee was ordered to the James River and after Richmond fell, the Maumee was one of the vessels operating off that city.

After the war, she went to Philadelphia and was decommissioned 17 June 1865 and sold 15 December.

--Old B-Runner