(ScStr: t. 183; l. 113'; b. 22'5"; dph. 7'8"; cpl. 49; a. 1 30-pdr. P.r., 4 8".)
A captain or other officer commanding a ship; a proprietor of a manorial estate especially in New York under Dutch rule. Patroon retained her former name upon entering naval service.
Patroon, a wooden screw steamer built at Philadelphia in 1859, was purchased by the Navy 28 October 1861 at Trenton, N.J., from R.T. Loper; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard 18 March 1862, acting Master Edward McKeige in command.
Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Patroon was stationed off the St. John's River early in May 1862, and she spent most of her naval career, operating along the Florida coast, enforcing the blockade, silencing Confederate coastal artillery, and gathering intelligence about Southern defenses.
The highlight of her service came 11 September, when, with Uncas, she dueled with Confederate batteries at St. John's Bluff Fla. Although Uncas was damaged, the Union ships forced their adversaries to abandon their positions and retire inland out of range.
However, from the first, leaking and a variety of other problems limited Patroon's effectiveness, and she was soon ordered north. Decommissioned 18 November 1862, the steamer was sold at public auction at Philadelphia 30 December 1862. She was subsequently purchased by the Union Army 8 December 1863.
