Eureka I (Screw Steamer)
1862-1865
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her capture.
I
(Screw Steamer: tonnage 50; 1ength 85'0”; beam 12'8"; depth of hold 3'6"; complement 19; armament 2 guns)
Eureka, a screw steamer, was captured on 20 April 1862 in the Rappahannock River, Va., by the armed screw steamer Anacostia; purchased by the Navy on 22 August 1862; and assigned to duty in the Potomac Flotilla, Acting Ensign John J. Brice in command.
For the next two years, Eureka patrolled the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers and their tributaries to prevent the passage of people and commerce between the Confederates in Virginia and their sympathizers in Maryland. Her shallow draft made her ideal for this duty, essential to controlling the flow of intelligence and supplies to the South. Inactive after March 1865, Eureka was sold at Washington on 15 September 1865.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
21 November 2023
