USS Yankee (1861) USS Yankee (1861) USS "Yankee" (1861) was a steam-powered side-wheel tugboat acquired by the Union Navy just prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War. The "Yankee"—a side-wheel steamer built in 1860 at New York City—was one of three steam tugs chartered early in April 1861 at New York City for use on the expedition to provision Fort Sumter, South Carolina, the first U.S. state to declare its secession from the Union, which it had done on December 20, 1860. She departed New York on 8 April 1861 and arrived off Charleston Bar on the 15th, a few hours
Fort Sumter to that time). The attack was unsuccessful, the Union's best ship, USS "New Ironsides" never effectively engaged, and the ironclads fired only 154 rounds, while receiving 2,209 from the Confederate defenders . Due to damage received in the attack, the USS "Keokuk" sank the next day, off the southern tip of Morris Island. Over the next month, working at night to avoid the attention of the Federal squadron, the Confederates salvaged "Keokuk's" two eleven-inch Dahlgren guns . One of the Dahlgren guns was promptly placed in Fort Sumter. The Confederates, in the meantime, were strengthening Fort Sumter. A workforce of