USS Stars and Stripes was a 407-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War. Stars and Stripes served the Union Navy primarily as a screw gunboat, and as a tugboat when necessary, in the blockade of the rivers and ports of the Confederate States of America. Service history Civil War operations Stars and Stripes—a screw steamer built at Mystic, Connecticut, by Charles Mallory as a speculation for C. S. Bushnell—was purchased by the Navy at New York City from C. S. Bushnell on 27 July 1861; was fitted out for naval service at the New York Navy Yard and was commissioned there on 19 September 1861, Lt. Reed Werden in command. Assigned to the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Stars and Stripes reached Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 26 September. Two days later, she was ordered to tow schooners of the Stone Fleet to Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina. She arrived off Hatteras Inlet on 1 October and operated in that vicinity for the next few months. While there, the , , and were subordinate to the orders of her captain. Because of the draft of the Stars and Stripes and the Underwriter, Lt. Werden was unwilling to have them enter Pamlico Sound due to shallowness of Hatteras Inlet. On 2 November, a Confederate vessel engaged the Stars and Stripes at long range briefly before retiring. The exchange was ineffectual since neither ship came within range of the other's guns. On 5 and 6 November, the ships under Lt. Werden's command attempted to provide assistance to the French corvette Prony which had run aground, but between concern for the weather and Rebel activity, proved unable to do so. On 15 December, she captured schooner Charity and sent her to New York City for adjudication. On 7 February 1862, the screw gunboat was in the squadron which attacked Roanoke Island and the next day captured that base which controlled communication between Pamlico Sound and Albemarle Sound. On 20 February while transferring ammunition to the , that ship struck the submerged anchor of the and was sunk, with most of her crew brought aboard the Stars and Stripes. She operated in the inland waters of North Carolina and helped capture New Bern, North Carolina, in mid-March. Stars and Stripes returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 4 June for repairs and sailed on the evening of the