the stream near Suffolk where the fighting was fiercest. The afternoon of the next day, her rudder was severely damaged, requiring her to return briefly to Norfolk to have it replaced. The repair work was completed on the afternoon of the 16th, and the tug returned to the Nansemond and fought there through the end of the month. Her vigorous fight and that of her sister ships prevented the Southern forces from dislodging Major General Peck's troops from their defensive works and finally prompted Longstreet to withdraw – a movement hastened by a message from General Lee, who was about to engage the Union Army at Chancellorsville. Attempt at conversion to torpedo boat On 31 August 1863, the tug caught fire while moored in the Norfolk Navy Yard and sank. She was soon raised, and by October had returned to duty. In January 1864, work to fit her with a torpedo apparatus began, but the experiment proved to be unsuccessful. As a result, the tug returned to duty in the James in May. Renamed USS Watch On 2 February 1865, Alert was renamed Watch. Her work on the James reached its climax early in April when she participated in the naval expedition to Richmond, which took President Lincoln to the former Confederate capital. Soon thereafter, she left that river and raced to the Potomac River, presumably to try to cut off the escape of the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, who had shot the President. Post-war decommissioning and subsequent career Following the collapse of the Confederacy, Watch was decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard on 26 May. She was sold at auction there to Robert Lear on 5 July. Redocumented as Watch on 2 August, she served as a merchant tug until abandoned in 1886. References Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in New York (state) Steamships of the United States Navy Tugs of the United States Navy Tenders of the United States Navy Dispatch boats of the United States Navy Gunboats of the United States Navy American Civil War auxiliary ships of the United States 1861 ships Maritime incidents in May 1863