USS Aries (1863)
Encyclopedia
USS Aries (1863) was a 820-ton iron screw steamer built at Sunderland
City of Sunderland
The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
, England, during 1861-1862, intended for employment as a blockade runner
Blockade runner
A blockade runner is usually a lighter weight ship used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait, as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade. Very often blockade running is done in order to transport cargo, for example to bring food or arms to a blockaded city...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. She was captured by Union Navy
Union Navy
The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
forces during the Union blockade
Union blockade
The Union Blockade, or the Blockade of the South, took place between 1861 and 1865, during the American Civil War, when the Union Navy maintained a strenuous effort on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the Confederate States of America designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms...
of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, and was commissioned as a Union gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
. Aries was named for the constellation
Aries (constellation)
Aries is one of the constellations of the zodiac, located between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. Its name is Latin for ram, and its symbol is , representing a ram's horns...
.
Although sold by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
post-war in 1865, Aries — the first ship to bear that name for the U.S. Navy — continued her work in the merchant service for nearly half a century, before being scrapped in 1908.
Built in Sunderland, England
The first U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Aries, she was laid down in 1861 at Sunderland, England, by James Laing's Deptford yard. Built during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in the hope that she would be purchased by persons planning to break the Union blockade of the South, this iron-hulled, screw steamer was completed in 1862 and sold later that year to Frederic Peter Obicino of London, England. She has resold, apparently sometime in 1863, to the Cuban firm, V. Malga & Cie, of Havana, Cuba.
Blockade running
Almost no records of her career as a blockade runnerBlockade runner
A blockade runner is usually a lighter weight ship used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait, as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade. Very often blockade running is done in order to transport cargo, for example to bring food or arms to a blockaded city...
seem to have survived, but we know that Aries did enter that chancy business, for a Confederate report on cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
exports between 1November 1862 and 31 May 1863 states that she carried 740 tons of cotton out of either Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, or Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. The number of her voyages to the South is unknown; and, in any case, her efforts to supply the Confederacy ended on 28 March 1863.
Capture by Union Navy forces
Shortly after midnight, lookouts on screw steamer StettinUSS Stettin (1861)
The USS Stettin was a 600 ton iron screw steamship, was built at Sunderland, England, in 1861 and later served as a gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.-Capture of the English steamship Stettin:...
— herself an erstwhile blockade runner now, following capture, turned blockader — spotted Aries off Bull's Bay, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, attempting to slip through the blockade with a cargo of liquor. The Union screw gunboat immediately weighed anchor and gave chase. When the runner was within range, Stettin opened fire on Aries
Aries
The Arieș is a tributary of Mureș River in Transylvania, Romania.Most probably "Arieș" means "Gold River" in Dalmatian which is thought to be very similar to the Dacian language. It is concluded that the Romanian name most probably derives from the Dacian name of the river...
and continued the pursuit until shoal water forced her to anchor.
At daybreak, Stettin's commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
, Acting Master Edward F. Devens, saw that his quarry had run ashore on the south end of Petrel Bank. He immediately lowered two boats, and, "...taking command in person... went on board and took possession of her as a prize to the U.S. Government." Since the blockade runner was aground astern, Devens had her cargo shifted forward; and the stranded steamer floated free with the rising tide.
Devens took Aries via Charleston to Port Royal, South Carolina
Port Royal, South Carolina
Port Royal is a town in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Largely because of annexation of surrounding areas , the population of Port Royal rose from 3,950 in 2000 to 10,678 in 2010, a 170% increase. As defined by the U.S...
, where Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont stated that she "...is the most perfect example of a blockade runner we have yet seen — her masts lower in a peculiar way, invented for this very purpose."
He ordered her north for adjudication in admiralty court
Admiralty court
Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences.- Admiralty Courts in England and Wales :...
and, since Devens was ill, detached him from Stettin and placed him in charge of the prize crew
Prize crew
Prize crew is a term used to indicate a number of crew members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship.In the early days of sailing and up into the American Civil War, capturing enemy ships was quite common...
for the voyage to Boston, Massachusetts, where she was condemned and purchased there by the Navy on 20 May 1863.
New England shoreline terrorized
While Aries was being fitted out for service in the Union Navy, Lt. Charles W. Read, CSN, in the prize Clarence, captured the bark Tacony; shifted his crew to her as a better vessel; and began a cruise north and off the New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
shoreline in which he terrorized Union shipping and frightened Northern coastal cities.
To still the clamor of frightened citizens for protection from this "rebel pirate," Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles
Gideon Welles
Gideon Welles was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. His buildup of the Navy to successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key component of Northern victory of the Civil War...
sent out a number of warships in pursuit of the commerce raider and promised that Aries would soon join them. However, before Aries was ready for sea, other Union warships closed in on Read and compelled him to surrender his force. Aries was placed in commission at the Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
on 25 July 1863, Acting Vol. Lt. Edward F. Devens in command.
Assigned to the South Atlantic blockade
On the day of her commissioning, the screw steamer sailed for Port Royal, South CarolinaPort Royal, South Carolina
Port Royal is a town in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Largely because of annexation of surrounding areas , the population of Port Royal rose from 3,950 in 2000 to 10,678 in 2010, a 170% increase. As defined by the U.S...
, carrying 200 men: marines to help Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren
John A. Dahlgren
John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren was a United States Navy leader. He headed the Union Navy's ordnance department during the American Civil War and designed several different kinds of guns and cannons that were considered part of the reason the Union won the war...
build up his forces for a renewed attack on Fort Wagner
Fort Wagner
Fort Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston harbor...
which guarded the seaward approaches to Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. After disembarking her passengers, she got underway again for Fortress Monroe, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, carrying word that Dahlgren's coal had been exhausted and that "... a supply can not be forwarded too soon."
From Hampton Roads, Virginia, Aries proceeded to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where she took on board two hundred more men for the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, before heading south once more.
At sea in hurricane-force winds
After delivering these replacements at Port Royal, she embarked some 100 passengers—mostly either sailors who were too ill to remain in a fighting zone or men whose periods of enlistment had expired. However, during her voyage north, she encountered a fearful storm off Cape Lookout, North Carolina, on 27 August and suffered engine failure while fighting its waves. The wind was so severe that Comdr. John J. Almy — the commanding officer of which chanced upon the disabled Aries on 1 September — described the weather as worse "... than I ever recollect to have seen it in the course of my sea service of more than twenty-one years." The commanding officer of another Union warship, stated that "... had the hurricane ... continued with unabated force much longer this ship (Pocahontas) could not have outlived it..."Connecticut took Aries in tow and proceeded via Beaufort, North Carolina
Beaufort, North Carolina
Beaufort is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1709, it is the third-oldest town in North Carolina.The population was 4,189 at the 2008 census and it is the county seat of Carteret County...
, to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where they arrived on the 6th. Two days later, the screw steamer arrived and towed Aries to Baltimore, Maryland, for repairs.
Capturing the blockade runner Ceres
Early in November, as the yard work on Aries was approaching completion, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered Devens to proceed in her to the waters off Wilmington, North CarolinaWilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, for duty in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Her first action in this new assignment began at daybreak on 6 December when one of her lookouts spotted a steamer aground on Western Bar near Smith's Island, North Carolina.
Aries got underway immediately and headed for the stranded blockade runner which soon proved to be the new British, iron-hulled, screw-propelled steamer Ceres which had departed Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
on the 3d and had struck bottom while attempting to slip into the Cape Fear River
Cape Fear River
The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...
sometime on the night of the 5th and 6th. When shoal water compelled Aries to heave to, Devens launched two boats which continued on to the blazing Ceres.
Upon boarding the prize, the boat parties set to work with fire buckets trying to quench the flames and stuck to the task despite fire from Southern batteries ashore. Meanwhile, the officers in charge of the boats broke into the captain's cabin and found a number of papers which contained highly valuable intelligence. Finally — after realizing that despite the diligent efforts of the Union bluejackets
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
— the flames were gaining on the bucket handlers, the boat parties withdrew from the British blockade runner and returned to their own ship.
That night, the rising tide refloated Ceres; and, early the following morning, observers on the blockaders could see her drifting seaward. A boat's crew from boarded the prize, anchored her in safe water, and — with men from Aries, , and Connecticut — put out the remaining fires. Aries then towed the erstwhile blockade runner to Beaufort, the prize's first stop on a voyage via Hampton Roads to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
for adjudication.
Capturing blockade runner Antonio
After delivering Ceres to Beaufort, Aries returned to blockade duty off Wilmington. At dawn on 20 December, men on board the ship sighted steam rising from a strange vessel, some four miles away to the east, southeast. Shortly thereafter, Union blockader , appeared, closing the potential prize while Aries joined in the pursuit. As she neared shoal waters, Aries anchored in four fathoms of water and sent an armed boat bearing a boarding party to the blockade runner.They learned that the stranger was the Confederate blockade runner Antonio which previously had won considerable renown under the names Lamar and Herald playing a cat-and-mouse game with Federal blockaders as she carried contraband
Contraband
The word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold....
cargo into Southern ports and escaped to sea, laden each time with between 1,000 and 1,200 bales of cotton.
The night before she had been taking the part of the mouse as she ran aground while attempting to slip into the Cape Fear River with a cargo consisting primarily of potable spirits. After brief efforts to pull free proved futile, Capt. W. F. Adair, the commander of the steamer, ordered his crew to abandon their ship and to head for the nearest land in boats, hoping to reach shore before daylight. However, they were spotted by Union blockader Governor Buckingham and captured by that steamer and the Federal tug Violet.
Men from Aries and from several other Union ships remained on board Antonio, for the next few days laboring in vain to refloat the prize. When rising water in the grounded and damaged steamer's hull made it clear that the effort could not possibly succeed, the Federal sailors finally left the ship on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
.
Burning blockade runner Dare
Aries next adventure came at the end of the first week of 1864. Shortly after daybreak on 7 January, while his ship was lying within the entrance of Little River, North CarolinaLittle River (North Carolina)
Little River may refer to ten streams by that name in the U.S. state of North Carolina:*Little River : A tributary of Albemarle Sound forming a portion of the border between Pasquotank and Perquimans counties....
, Devens "...discovered a strange steamer standing to the E.S.E., with the in chase of her..." Aries immediately got underway to join in the pursuit and gained on the stranger. Weather was bad and, about 8:20 a.m., thick fog settled and hid the fleeing steamer. When it lifted a bit over an hour later, the chase was considerably closer than she had been when last seen. Aries opened fire, and her shot fell close to the target. This accuracy prompted the blockade runner to haul "... to the westward..."
However, the steamer ran aground close to North Inlet, near Georgetown, South Carolina
Georgetown, South Carolina
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Low Country. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina,...
; and her crew escaped to shore. Closing fast, Aries came to anchor to avoid being stranded herself and "...immediately sent two armed boats to board the steamer and get her off."
High surf thwarted their efforts to refloat the prize, so the boats' crews set the vessel afire and returned to Aries with word that the blockade runner was the Confederate steamer Dare. Unfortunately, Aries second cutter swamped in the surf during the expedition resulting in the capture of two of its officers and seven enlisted men by Confederate forces. A boat from Montgomery also capsized with the loss of two officers and fourteen men who were imprisoned.
Continuing interception operations
On the evening of 10 January, orders reached Lt. Devens to send his boats to assist which had run aground that morning while attempting to refloat the stranded blockade runner Bendigo near Lockwood's Folly Inlet. About midnight, her boats — along with some from , , and Governor Buckingham — received the officers and men of the doomed Union screw steamer.The following morning, 11 January, Aries joined Minnesota, Daylight, and Governor Buckingham in chasing the blockade runner Ranger which was attempting to enter the Cape Fear River with a cargo from Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Northern ships drove the steamer aground where she was abandoned by her crew. However, their efforts to refloat Ranger as a prize were stopped by Southern sharpshooters "...whose fire completely commanded her (Ranger's) decks." Since it was impossible to take possession of Ranger, the Union sailors burned her.
While these actions were taking place, black smoke was spotted in the direction of Shallotte Inlet. Aries, which had been withdrawn from her station in that quarter the previous night, was sent to investigate. She soon came across "... a fine-looking double propeller blockade runner, resembling Ceres, beached and on fire between Tubb's and Little River Inlets ..." Once more Southern sharpshooters prevented Union parties from boarding the steamer, extinguishing the flames, and taking possession of the prize.
The next day, after the riflemen had withdrawn, Devens did manage to board the ship and learned that she was Vista, a sister ship of Ceres. However, serious damage to her hull made it impossible to refloat the blockade runner, and her two anchors were his only booty.
Shelled by shore batteries
Aries next lively action came two months later. On 14 March, she and drove a large, long, and low side-wheel steamer ashore on the west point of Oak Island, near the Western Bar, off Wilmington. Their approach to the unidentified potential prize — which resembled the recently captured North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
blockade runner A. D. Vance — was ended by shelling from Southern shore batteries.
Much of the spring and summer, Aries was out of action undergoing repairs; but she returned to duty off Wilmington in September. On 28 October, she assisted and in capturing the English steamer Lady Sterling. Again on the night of 6 November, Aries "...discovered a strange steamer ...", immediately gave chase, opened fire on the stranger, and threw rockets to the eastward, indicating his course. Nevertheless, despite assistance in the pursuit by Maratanza and Eolus and the blockade runner's being briefly stranded, a rising tide and clever seamanship enabled the steamer to escape to safety in Wilmington.
On 3 December, Aries joined five other ships in shelling blockade running steamer Ella which Union blockader had forced aground on Marshall Shoal, Smith's Island, North Carolina, "... placing her in a condition which rendered it impossible to get her off..."
Attack on Fort Fisher
Years of labor and the endurance of tedium by the sailors who manned the Union warships on blockade duty were finally strangling the Confederacy. Not only were more and more blockade runners being destroyed and captured, but joint Army-Navy operations were snatching one seaport after another from the South. As the year 1864 drew to a close, only one major port remained in Confederate hands, Wilmington, where Aries had served almost exclusively since entering the Union Navy. And, at that time, plans were well advanced for an amphibious attack against Fort FisherFort Fisher
Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865....
which guarded that last center of Southern maritime activity.
Aries was in the reserve division of a vast task force which departed Beaufort on 18 December and headed for the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Troops went ashore on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
and seriously threatened Fort Fisher; but the Army commander, Major General Benjamin F. Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
, feared that his troops could not cope with the Southern forces that defended the Confederate works. As a result he ordered his men to re-embark.
Second attack on Fort Fisher
Dissatisfied with Butler's lack of resolution, Rear Admiral David Dixon PorterDavid Dixon Porter
David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...
— the commander of the naval forces in the operation — pressed Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, for a renewed attack. Early in January 1865, a mighty force was assembled for a new effort against Fort Fisher. Aries, although again assigned to the reserve division, helped to land troops on the 13th and, once they were ashore, supported the troops for the next two days. The defenders finally capitulated on the 15th, shutting off the South from all foreign aid. The Confederacy was now doomed.
Reassigned to the East Gulf blockade
After supporting mopping up operations in the vicinity of Wilmington for the remainder of January and all of February, Aries departed Hampton Roads on the morning of 5 March and headed for Key West, FloridaKey West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
, to join the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. However, when she reached Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
waters, her machinery necessitated her remaining in port undergoing repairs into May. She was then sent to sea to cruise off Havana, Cuba, to intercept should that Confederate raider attempt to escape to sea. After Stonewall's commanding officer, Capt. Thomas Jefferson Page
Thomas Jefferson Page
Thomas Jefferson Page, a grandson of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a United States Navy officer who served in the Caribbean, carried out a hydrographical survey of the New York coastline, and worked under Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury at the Naval Observatory in...
, learned of the end of the war and turned his ship over to Spanish authorities,
Post-war sale and subsequent career
Aries returned to Key West. On 1 June, she was ordered to Boston, Massachusetts, where she was decommissioned at the Boston Navy YardBoston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
on the 14th of that month.
Sold at public auction
Public auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....
at Boston on 1 August 1865 to Sprague, Soule & Co., the steamer was documented on 12 August 1865 as SS Aries. She retained her original name throughout a long career in merchant service carrying freight between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
ports. She was sold in 1908 for scrapping