Nyack (Gunboat)
1864-1883
A town in Rockland County, New York; name derived from Native American word meaning "point" or "corner."
(Gunboat: displacement 836; length 179'6"; beam 29'8"; draft 11'6"; speed 10 knots; armament 1 10-pounder Parrott rifle, 1 30-pounder Parrott rifle, 2 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbores, 2 24-pounders, 1 12-pounder rifle, I heavy 12-pounder rifle; class Nipsic)
Nyack, a wooden-hulled screw gunboat, was laid down at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., in December 1862; launched on 6 October 1863; sponsored by Miss Emma Paulding, daughter of Rear-Adm. Leonard Paulding and grand-daughter of Rear-Adm. Hiram Paulding; and commissioned on 28 September 1864, Lt. Comdr. L. Howard Newman in command.
Nyack joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Wilmington, N.C., for duty through the close of the Civil War. She joined in attacks on Fort Fisher in the Cape Fear River (24-25 December 1864), and participated in the capture of Fort Anderson nearby (18-19 February 1865).
Ordered to the Pacific in 1866, Nyack cruised the coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, protecting U.S. nationals while maintaining U.S. neutrality during tension between Spain and her former colonies. She extended asylum to General Pardo, ex-President of Peru, on 10 January 1868 as he fled revolutionary turmoil, transporting him safely to Valparaiso, Chile. After similar service to America's foreign relations Nyack returned to San Francisco, Calif., early in 1871, where she was decommissioned on 15 March 1871.
Nyack was sold at San Francisco to W. E. Mighell on 30 November 1883.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
13 May 2022
