USS Sachem
Gunboat · United States · Lost 1863 · Texas & the Western Gulf
A Union screw gunboat whose boiler was pierced by Confederate shot at Sabine Pass in 1863.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Sachem was an older screw steamer taken into the United States Navy as a gunboat and used on the Gulf blockade. On 8 September 1863 she went up the Sabine Pass channel with the Union force sent against Fort Griffin. Confederate artillery pierced her boiler, scalding men below and leaving her helpless in the channel. She surrendered and passed into Confederate hands.
Vessel
- 1844
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Screw steam
- United States Navy
Loss
- September 8, 1863
- Enemy action
- Sabine Pass, Texas
- Sabine Pass and the western Gulf of Mexico
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Men were scalded when the boiler was pierced; totals differ between accounts.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- United States Navy property; sunken military craft
Position
- 29.73° N 93.88° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Sabine Pass, Texas
Position given for the Sabine Pass channel; the wreck site is not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (62/100)
Casualty totals and the present location of the remains are not settled in the sources reviewed.
Naval History and Heritage Command, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
Purchase, service history, date and circumstances of loss.
Texas Historical Commission
Context of the Second Battle of Sabine Pass.
