Clematis (Tug)
1864-1866
A perennial flowering vine of the crowfoot family.
(Tug: tonnage 297; length 127'0"; beam 22'0"; draft 10'0"; speed 12 knots; complement 46; armament 1 30-pounder rifle, 2 12-pounder smoothbores)
Clematis, a steam tug built in 1863 at Cleveland, Ohio, was purchased by the Navy on 2 August 1864. Taken to the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., to be outfitted, she was placed in commission there on 14 September 1864, Acting Volunteer Lt. Elias D. Bruner in command.
Departing New York on 4 October 1864 with the monitor Mahopac in tow, Clematis arrived at Fort Monroe, Va., on 6 October. She then operated as a tug in the James and Elizabeth Rivers and at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va., until 5 November when she sailed for duty on the blockade off Wilmington, N.C.
After repairs at Norfolk from 13 December 1864, Clematis again served up the James River in March and April 1865. On 27 April she cleared Fort Monroe, Va., for Mobile, Ala., arriving on 21 May 1865. Retained in service at the close of the Civil War, she served the Gulf Squadron until 23 May 1866 when she sailed for Philadelphia [Pa.] Navy Yard, arriving on 31 May. She was placed out of commission on 6 June 1866 and sold on 26 November 1866.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
15 March 2022
