USS Alabama (1861-1865). Previously and later the civilian
steamship Alabama (1850-1861, 1865-1878) Alabama , a 1261-ton
wooden side-wheel steamer, was built at New York City in 1850
and operated thereafter in commercial service in the western
Atlantic. The U.S. Army used her as a transport during the
spring and early summer of 1861, and she was purchased by the
Navy at the beginning of August of that year for conversion to a
warship. Commissioned as USS Alabama at the end of September
1861, in the next month she was attached to the large naval
force preparing to seize Port Royal, South Carolina, for use as
a base for blockading the southern seacoast. However, before
that expedition reached its target area, she was detached and
sent to patrol off Charleston, South Carolina. In December,
Alabama took station along the Georgia coast, capturing the ship
Admiral there on the 12th. For the rest of 1861 and most of
1862, Alabama continued to enforce the blockade. In February and
March 1862 she took part in the occu