Zeta (Screw Steamer)
1864-1865
The sixth letter of the Greek alphabet.
(Screw Steamer: tonnage 60; length 58'; beam 13'; depth of hold 5'; speed 8 knots; armament 8 Enfield muskets, 1 "torpedo")
J. G. Loane -- a small wooden steamer built at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1844 -- was purchased by the Navy on 3 June 1864 at Philadelphia from William S. Mason.
Renamed Tug No. 6 and commissioned on 8 June 1864, Acting Ensign Frederick W. Mintzer in command, this small craft was sometimes referred to as Picket Boat No. 6 in dispatches.
Renamed Zeta in November 1864, she served as a torpedo tug in the James River until April of 1865. Transferred in that month to the Potomac Flotilla of Cmdr. Foxhall A. Parker, Zeta guarded the Bush River [Maryland] Bridge until sent to the Washington [D.C.] Navy Yard in May.
Her services no longer required, Zeta was sold to C. Vanderwerken on 24 June 1865.