USS George W. Rodgers (1861)

USS George W. Rodgers (1861) was a schooner captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was initially intended to be used as part of the stone fleet of sunken obstructions; however, she was retained and used as a picket boat and dispatch vessel and, later, as a survey ship, concentrating her efforts in the waterways of the Confederate South.

Blockade runner Shark captured by USS South Carolina
George W. Rodgers, originally blockade runner Shark, was captured by the screw steamer South Carolina off Galveston, Texas, 4 July 1861 and sent to the U.S. East Coast.

Arriving New York City 24 August, she was sold to a private purchaser 5 November.

Service under charter by the Union Navy
Later chartered by the Union Navy under a civilian master, Shark served during 1862 and 1863 as a dispatch ship with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron until taken over by the Union Navy off Charleston, South Carolina, 5 September 1863 by order of Admiral John A. Dahlgren.

Commissioned by the Union Navy and renamed George W. Rodgers
Although Shark was purchased to be sunken obstruction at Charleston, she was retained. Renamed George W. Rodgers, she sailed to Port Royal, South Carolina, for arming and repairs, and commissioned there 17 January 1865, Acting Master Loring G. Emerson in command.

Service as a picket boat along the Georgia coast
During the remainder of the war, George W. Rodgers served as a picket boat along the coast of Georgia in Wassaw Sound and in Ossabaw Sound and on the Vernon and Great Ogeechee Rivers.

Service as a survey vessel along the Georgia coast
Occasionally used for special dispatch service, between February and May she joined Coast Survey steamer Bibb on an important coastal survey in the sounds and rivers of the Georgia coast. She resumed picket duty 2 May and operated along the Georgia and Florida coasts until departing Ossabaw Sound for Boston, Massachusetts, 25 July.

Post-war decommissioning and sale
She arrived Boston Navy Yard 7 August; decommissioned 16 August; and was sold to C. H. Miller by public auction 8 September.