USS Sarah and Caroline (1861)

USS Sarah and Caroline (1861) was a schooner captured by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War.

She served the Union Navy during the blockade of ports and waterways of the Confederate States of America as a ship's tender.

Captured by the Union Navy
While on blockade duty on the afternoon of 11 December 1861, Union side wheel steamer, USS Bienville (1861), sighted two sails and immediately gave chase. She succeeded in driving one ship aground in the breakers at the mouth of the St. Johns River, and she captured the other, a small pilot-boat schooner, named Sarah and Caroline. The prize had slipped out of Jacksonville, Florida, and was bound for Nassau, New Providence, in the Bahamas, carrying 60 barrels of turpentine. The dangers of the Atlantic Ocean in winter precluded sending the frail schooner north for adjudication, so she was kept at Port Royal, South Carolina.

Civil War service
Although no record of her service has been found, Sarah and Caroline apparently served the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron as a ship's tender. In any case, she was purchased by the Navy from the New York City prize court on 1 August 1863.

Post-war deactivation
After the Civil War ended, she was sold at Port Royal on 8 August 1865.