Canandaigua I (Screw Sloop-of-War) 1862–1875
A city and lake in New York State.
I
(Screw sloop-of-war: displacement 1,395; length 228'; beam 38'5"; draft 15'; speed 10 knots; armament 2 11-inch Dahlgren smooth bores, 1 8-inch smooth bore, and 3 20-pounder Parrott rifles; class Canandaigua)
The first Canandaigua, a screw sloop-of-war, was launched on 28 March 1862 by Boston Navy Yard, Mass., and commissioned on 1 August 1862, Cmdr. Joseph F. Green in command.
Canandaigua reported to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Charleston, S.C., on 26 August 1862, adding to the power to isolate the Confederacy from overseas supplies, one of the Navy's several decisive contributions to Union victory. Off Charleston on 15 May 1863, Canandaigua took sloop Secesh; later she destroyed another blockade runner, and aided in the capture of a schooner and a steamer in the same area.
In addition to blockading, Canandaigua cooperated with Army forces taking part in the long series of attacks on positions in Charleston harbor during 1863 and 1864. On 17 February 1864, she rescued 150 of crewmen from Housatonic when that ship fell victim to the historic attack by Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley.
Canandaigua sailed for the Boston Navy Yard on 26 March 1865, and was decommissioned there on 8 April 1865. Recommissioned on 22 November 1865, Canandaigua cruised on the European station until February 1869, when she began three years of repairs at New York Navy Yard. She was renamed Detroit on 15 May 1869, but returned to her original name on 10 August 1869.
Her last cruise, 1872-1875, carried her to the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico with the North Atlantic Station's detachment there. Out of commission at Norfolk Navy Yard after 8 November 1875, she remained in ordinary until broken up in 1884.
Updated by Mark L. Evans
14 September 2016
