USS Alert (1861)
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | USS Alert |
| Ordered | as A. C. Powell |
| Laid down | Unknown |
| Launched | in 1861 at Syracuse, New York |
| Acquired |
|
| Commissioned | circa 3 October 1861 |
| Decommissioned |
|
| Stricken | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Tugboat / Dispatch boat / Ship's tender / Gunboat |
| Displacement | 90 long tons (91 t) |
| Length | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Beam | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Draft | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Depth of hold | 7 ft (2.1 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 7 kn (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) |
| Complement | 15 |
| Armament | 1 × 24-pounder rifled howitzer |
USS Alert was a 90 long tons (91 t) steamship named A. C. Powell purchased by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War.
A. C. Powell – later renamed Alert, and still later renamed Watch – served primarily as a tugboat, but at times she performed duty as a dispatch boat, ship's tender, and even as a gunboat despite the fact that she had on board only a howitzer instead of a cannon or rifle.