USS Silver Cloud, a 236-ton "tinclad" river gunboat, was built in 1862 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, for commercial use. Described in published sources as a stern-wheel steamer, she was acquired by the Navy in April 1863 and commissioned a month later. Silver Cloud was assigned to patrol the Tennessee river and other rivers in that vicinity, interdicting Confederate transporation, convoying Union steamers, protecting Federal positions and raiding enemy-held locations. In April 1864, she was present when Confederate forces captured Fort Pillow, Tennessee, and when that fort was retaken soon thereafter. In June 1865, following the end of the Civil War, USS Silver Cloud was decommissioned. Sold in August, she was reportedly converted to a side-wheel steamer for civilian employment and was lost in 1866 after striking a snag in Buffalo Bayou, Texas.
This page features our only view of a ship identified as USS Silver Cloud.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
13 February 2000