Buckthorn I (Dispatch Vessel)
1864-1868
Buckthorn is a tree of the southern U.S..
I
(Dispatch Vessel: tonnage 128; length 87'; beam 22'; depth of hold 7'7"; speed 8.5 knots; armament 1 30-pounder, 2 12-pounder smoothbores)
The screw steamer Signal -- built in 1863 at East Haddam, Conn. -- was purchased by the Navy on 22 December 1863, three days before Christmas, and, renamed Buckthorn, was commissioned at New York on 7 April 1864, Acting Volunteer Lt. Washington Godfrey, who had been commended for "gallant conduct at Port Hudson" on 7 March 1864, in command.
Buckthorn served with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War and participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay (5 August 1864). She acted as a tender for the fleet and was also used as a dispatch vessel throughout her career.
After the Civil War she served at the Pensacola Navy Yard until laid up in 1868. Subsequently, Buckthorn was sold at Pensacola, Fla., on 7 September 1869.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
12 November 2021
