was assigned to the Atlantic Blockading Squadron and sailed for Hampton Roads. Late in August, Susquehanna participated in the joint Army-Navy expedition to Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, which captured Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras on 29 August. During September, she captured two British schooners: Argonaut on 13 September and Prince Alfred on 28 September. In the same month, she also took two Confederate schooners as well: San Juan on 28 September and Baltimore the following day. All four ships were laden with contraband. Late in October, Susquehanna joined Flag Officer Samuel Francis DuPont's expedition to South Carolina waters which captured Port Royal Sound on 7 November; took possession of Beaufort, South Carolina, on 9 November; and established a blockade at the mouth of the Broad River the same day. These operations provided the Union Navy with an important base for the future operations of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Susquehanna served in this important squadron until the following spring, operating primarily on blockade duty off Charleston, South Carolina. There, she took British schooner Coquette on 3 April 1862, attempting to slip into Charleston from the Bahamas. On 27 April, Susquehanna was ordered to Hampton Roads to strengthen the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron which was then making every effort to support Major General George B. McClellan's drive up the peninsula toward Richmond, Virginia. The Union forces in the area were then threatened by ironclad CSS Virginia, the former USS Merrimack. Susquehanna and four other Union warships acting under orders from President of the United States Abraham Lincoln bombarded Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point, Virginia, on 8 May. Three days later, Virginia was blown up by her crew, ending her threat to Union shipping in the Hampton Roads area and freed Susquehanna for duty elsewhere. Late in May, the ship was assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, and she carried dispatches for Flag Officer David Farragut to the Gulf of Mexico. En route, she captured Confederate schooner Princeton on 11 June, and sent the prize to Key West, Florida. On 29 June, she and Kanawha seized British steamer Ann trying to get into Mobile Bay with a cargo of arms and ammunition. Susquehanna continued to operate in the Gulf of Mexico until ordered to New York for repairs in the spring of 1863. While proceeding north, the warship captured schooner Alabama off the Florida coast on 18 April. She was decommissioned