USS Hibiscus (1864)

USS Hibiscus (1864) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy towards the end of 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.

Purchased at New York City in 1864
Hibiscus was purchased at New York City from S. M. Pook on 16 November 1864; and commissioned there on 29 December 1864, Lt. William L. Martine in command.

Assigned to the Southern Blockade
She sailed from New York on 29 January 1865 and reached Tampa, Florida, via Port Royal, South Carolina, and Key West, Florida, on 17 February. Hibiscus patrolled out of Tampa, Florida, until the end of July, putting in at Cedar Keys and St. Andrews Bay as well as Key West during this period.

On 11 April 1865 off Crystal River, Sea Bird, which served as tender to Hibiscus, captured small Confederate sloops Florida and Annie with cargos of loose and baled cotton.

End-of-war activity and decommissioning
With the end of the war, Hibiscus sailed north and on 11 August stood into New York. She decommissioned there 19 August 1865 and was sold 5 October 1866.

Sank
The Hibiscus sank off New Jersey 30 2 April 1873 (See New York Times, 2 May 1873, page 8). The shipwreck known to local divers as the Emerald Wreck has been tentatively identified as the Hibiscus Scuba Diving - New Jersey & Long Island New York.