USS Shepherd Knapp (1861)

USS Shepherd Knapp (1861) was a large (838-ton) ship with eight guns, purchased by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War.

With her eight guns and a crew of 93, she was employed by the Union Navy as a heavy gunship outfitted to pursue major Confederate States of America blockade runners, especially Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes. During the course of her fruitless searches for Semmes, she ran aground on a reef near Haiti and was abandoned.

Purchased at New York City in 1861
Shepherd Knapp — a ship-rigged sailing vessel — was purchased at New York City on 28 August 1861 from Laurence Giles & Co.

Searching for Captain Raphael Semmes
Since the logs of Shepherd Knapp are missing, many details of her career are unknown. Apparently her first commanding officer was Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Henry S. Eytinge, who was ordered on 1 November 1861 to cruise in the West Indies seeking to capture or destroy any "vessels of the rebels" he might encounter.

The special object of his attention was the Confederate commerce raider, CSS Sumter, which had been preying on Union shipping since early summer. After a long cruise in which she never quite caught up with Capt. Raphael Semmes and his elusive steamer, Shepherd Knapp returned to New York City on the afternoon of 17 April 1862. The ship was laid up at the New York Navy Yard for the rest of the year. On 20 January 1863, she was again ordered to cruise in the West Indies seeking Confederate ships, especially the CSS Alabama. Again, Semmes managed to elude the Union warship.

Sunk on a coral reef
After cruising in the Caribbean for over three and one-half months, Shepherd Knapp struck a coral reef off Cap-Haïtien and was abandoned.