Daffodil (Tug)
1862-1867
A well-known single-flowered plant.
(Tug: tonnage 173; length110'6"; beam 22'6"; draft 5'6"; speed 8 knots; complement 35; armament 2 20-pounder rifles)
The side-wheel steamer Jonas Smith was built by B. C. Terry at Keyport, Ky., in 1862. She was purchased by the Navy at New York on 17 November 1862 and, renamed Daffodil, was fitted out at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Assigned to duty with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Daffodil sailed on 24 November 1862, Acting Master L. G. Crane ir. command. From her arrival at Port Royal, S.C., on 10 December 1862 until the end of the war she served as tug in the coastal waters of South Carolina and Georgia.
Her services were characterized by Admiral Samuel F. DuPont as invaluable. On 8 September 1863 she towed 25 of the boats in the assault on Fort Sumter. From 27 November to 29 December 1864 she took part in the successful Army-Navy expedition up Broad River to destroy the Charleston and Savannah Railroad Bridge near Pocotaligo, S.C. On 27 January 1865 she made a reconnaissance up the Ashepoo River and on 9 February joined in a successful engagement with enemy batteries in the Togodo River, S.C.
After the Civil War Daffodil joined the newly organized North Atlantic Squadron and was stationed at Port Royal, S.C., until sold at Savannah, Ga., 13 March 1867.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
15 July 2021
