USS Shepherd Knapp
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Acquired | 28 August 1861 at New York City |
| In service | 1861 |
| Fate | Wrecked 18 May 1863 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 838 tons |
| Length | 160 ft 10 in (49.02 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m) |
| Draft | 13 ft (4.0 m) (Light) |
| Depth of hold | 22 ft 3 in (6.78 m) |
| Propulsion | sail |
| Complement | 93 |
| Armament | eight guns |
USS Shepherd Knapp 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 gunboat outfitted to pursue major Confederate States of America blockade runners, especially Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes. Her limited ability as a sailing ship in pursuit of steam-powered adversaries was eventually recognised and a different strategy adopted: she became a decoy, disguised as an unarmed merchant ship sailing in areas where Confederate raiders were known to operate.
During the course of her fruitless searches for Semmes, she ran aground on a reef near Haiti and was abandoned.