Paul Jones, Jr.

 

Named for the double-ended, sidewheel, steam gunboat Paul Jones.

 

(Steam launch: dp. 30 t.; a. l gun)

 

Paul Jones, Jr. was built in 1862–63 and was assigned as tender to U.S. gunboat Seneca of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. A shallow draft vessel, she was used effectively as an observation boat to gather intelligence in the outlets and estuaries of St. Simon’s and Doboy Sounds, Altamaha (Buttermilk Channel), Georgia.

 

Never mounting more than one small howitzer, she also assisted Seneca in guarding the sounds to prevent Confederate river steamers, which were generally unarmed, from using the waterways. Paul Jones, Jr. served in this capacity from March 1863 through June 1864. She was sold 17 August 1865.