USS United States (1797) - Civil War

Civil War

United States rotted away at Norfolk until 20 April 1861 when the navy yard was captured by Confederate troops. Before leaving the yard, Union fire crews failed to burn the vessel along with other abandoned ships, thinking it unnecessary to destroy the decayed relic. The Confederates, pressed for vessels in any condition, thought otherwise. They pumped her out and commissioned the frigate CSS United States (though they often called her Confederate States) on 29 April. On 15 June, she was fitted out as a receiving ship with a deck battery of 19 guns for harbor defense.

In this role, she served her new owners well but was ordered sunk in the Elizabeth River, Virginia, to form an obstruction to Union vessels when the Confederates abandoned the navy yard in May 1862. The ancient timbers of the frigate were so strong and well-preserved they ruined one whole box of axes when attempts were made to scuttle her, and it was necessary to bore through the hull from inside before she settled to the muddy bottom of the river.

Shortly after the destruction of ironclad ram Virginia on 11 May 1862 and the surrender of the Norfolk Navy Yard to Union troops, United States was raised and towed to the yard by federal authorities. She remained there until March 1864, when the Bureau of Construction and Repair decided to break her up and sell the wood. This was delayed until the Bureau ordered on 18 December that the gallant old frigate be docked at Norfolk and finally broken up.