The USS New London was a wooden-hulled screw steamer built in 1859 in Mystic, Connecticut, by George Greenman & Company for commercial service. She measured approximately 125 feet in length, with a beam of 25 feet 6 inches and a draft of 9 feet 6 inches. Her construction featured a sturdy frame of white oak and chestnut, fastened with copper and iron. The vessel had a single deck, a hold depth of 7 feet 8 inches, and a gross register tonnage of 260 tons, with a displacement of 221 tons. Propelled by a single-cylinder vertical direct-acting steam engine built by C. H. Delamater of New York, she drove a four-bladed screw propeller with a diameter of 9 feet. Powered by a single return-tubular boiler, she could reach a speed of approximately 9.6 knots. For auxiliary propulsion and sailing capabilities, she was rigged with three schooner-masts. Her dimensions and engineering aimed at commercial efficiency, though her commercial service speed remains unrecorded. Acquired by the Union Navy in August 1861 amid the Civil War, she was converted into a gunboat, armed with one 20-pounder Parrott rifle and four 32-pounder guns. Commissioned in October 1861 under Lieutenant Abner Read, she was assigned to the Gulf of Mexico for blockade duty. During her service, New London participated in numerous combat and blockade operations, capturing several Confederate vessels, including schooners, sloops, and steamboats. Notably, she took part in the blockade of Mississippi and Texas coasts, engaged Confederate batteries, and conducted amphibious operations, such as the attack at Pascagoula in July 1862. After the war, she was decommissioned in August 1865 and sold. She was renamed Acushnet and continued merchant service until 1910. Her service record highlights her role as a versatile and active vessel in the Union blockade efforts, contributing significantly to naval operations in the Gulf during the Civil War.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.