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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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  • Ship History
Wars & Conflicts
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Peedee
(ScSlp: l. 170'; b. 26'; dph. 10'; s. 9 k.; cpl. 91; a. 1 7" r., 1 6.4" r., 1 9" sb.)

CSS Peedee was a wooden gunboat built at Mars Bluff near Marion Courthouse, S.C., on the Great Peedee River, to the design of Acting Naval Constructor John L. Porter, CSN, late in 1862. Lt. Edward J. Means, CSN, commanding the naval station there, superintended construction of the twin-screw gunboat; one engine was ordered from the Naval Iron Works, Richmond, and the other is believed to have run the blockade from Great Britain. Her battery was intended to be four 32-pdrs. broadside and two 9-inch pivots.

Although little information concerning her has been preserved, reports indicate that she was completed and in commission as early as 20 April 1864 with Lt. O. F. Johnston, CSN, in command. She remained in the Peedee River where the Confederates destroyed her 110 miles above Georgetown upon the evacuation of Charleston, 18 February 1865.