USS Fuchsia (1863)

USS Fuchsia (1863) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Fuchsia, a steam tug, was built in 1863 by Fincourt, New York City; purchased by the Navy 16 June 1863; and commissioned in August 1863, Acting Master W. T. Street in command.

Assigned to the Potomac River Flotilla
Fuchsia reached Washington Navy Yard 8 August 1863 to join the Potomac Flotilla in patrol duty on the Potomac, Rappahannock, Piankatank, Tappahannock, Curitoman, and St. Mary's Rivers. On 21 October, sailing with USS Currituck (1861), Fuchsia apprehended the steamer Three Brothers, sailing unladen without proper papers. Nine days later, as she cruised in the Rappahannock, she sent a landing party ashore to arrest two men known to be blockade runners, and the next day she took a Virginia soldier prisoner.

Search and destroy missions
On 7 March 1864, Fuchsia made a foray up the Piankatank, searching for the Army tug Titan previously taken by the Confederates. Finding the tug burned to the water's edge, she sent men to disable the tug's boilers, preventing their future use by the Confederates. Similar reconnaissance and patrol duty, in the course of which she often fired on Confederate detachments ashore and in turn came under fire, continued throughout the war.

End-of-war decommissioning and sale
Fuchsia cruised the same waters until decommissioned at Washington, D.C., 5 August 1865. She was sold 23 September 1865.