USS Crusader, a 545-ton (burden) wooden screw gunboat, was built at Murfreesboro, North Carolina, in 1858 as the civilian steamship Southern Star. She was chartered by the Navy in October of that year to take part in a punitive expedition to Paraguay. Commissioned as USS Southern Star, she operated in South American waters during the first three months of 1859, then returned to the United States. The Navy purchased the steamer at about that time and changed her name to Crusader. During the next two years she served in the West Indies on anti-slaving patrol, and, as the secession crisis deepened in early 1861, took part in efforts to reinforce Federal positions along the Gulf coast.
In March-August 1861, as the Civil War began and intensified, Crusader served in the Gulf of Mexico, where she captured three sailing vessels. After an overhaul, in January 1862 the steamer began duty along the coast of South Carolina. Her activities in that area included participation in raids up the South Edisto River in April and the Wadmelaw River in June. Crusader joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in September 1862 and thereafter operated in Chesapeake Bay and its associated rivers. She took part in the capture or destruction of several schooners during this time, as well as protecting areas held by Federal forces and raiding those controlled by the enemy. The Navy's need for Crusader's services ended with the conclusion of the war, and she was decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C. in June 1861. Sold the following month, she was renamed Kalorama and remained in commercial service until wrecked on 25 February 1876.
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Page made 31 August 2003