The first significant victory for the U.S. Navy during the early phases of the Union blockade occurred on April 24, 1861, when Pendergrast and the Cumberland, accompanied by a small flotilla of support ships, began seizing Confederate ships and privateers in the vicinity of Fort Monroe off the Virginia coastline.
The blockade runners were based in the British islands of Bermuda and the Bahamas, or Havana, in Spanish Cuba.
•
The Navy Department, under the leadership of Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, quickly moved to expand the fleet.
•
In December 1864, Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles sent a force against Fort Fisher, which protected the Confederate's access to the Atlantic from Wilmington, North Carolina, the last open Confederate port.
Soviet Union | European Union | Union Army | rugby union | Union | International Telecommunication Union | trade union | Union (American Civil War) | Union Pacific Railroad | England national rugby union team | American Civil Liberties Union | Wales national rugby union team | New Zealand national rugby union team | Ireland national rugby union team | Western Union | Scotland national rugby union team | International Astronomical Union | Georgia national rugby union team | Trade union | International Union for Conservation of Nature | Border Union Railway | France national rugby union team | United States national rugby union team | South Africa national rugby union team | Communist Party of the Soviet Union | Amateur Athletic Union | Union Carbide | Australia national rugby union team | Union Theological Seminary | union |
The ship was launched 101 days from the signing of the contract, in time to defend the Union blockade during the Battle of Hampton Roads.