USS Cohasset (1860)

USS Cohasset (1860) was a tugboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy for various purposes: as a tugboat, dispatch vessel, escort vessel, and even as a gunboat.

Cohasset — a tug originally called E. D. Fogg and later Narragansett — was built in 1860 at Providence, Rhode Island; purchased by the Navy on 13 September 1861; outfitted at New York Navy Yard; delivered at Hampton Roads, Virginia on 26 October 1861; and assigned to duty with the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Pilot Thomas Evans in command.

Assigned to the Atlantic Blockade
From 26 October 1861-July 1864, Cohasset sailed in the Norfolk, Virginia, area and in the rivers of Virginia as a picket and dispatch boat, carried mail and supplies, towed coal barges, acted as guard for USS Minnesota (1855), and shared in the fighting in the York, James, and Nansemond Rivers.

Providing harbor defense
Ordered to Beaufort, North Carolina in July 1864, Cohasset was used for harbor defense and towing until 1 October 1864, when she returned to Norfolk for duty towing coal barges in the James River.

Post-Civil War activity
Cohasset arrived at Boston Navy Yard on 1 June 1865. She served as yard tug there until 1882, when she was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island.

Cohasset was sold on 9 May 1892 at Newport, Rhode Island.