Belle—a screw tug completed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in 1864—operated briefly at Boston, Massachusetts, before she was purchased there by the Union Navy on June 2, 1864.

Ready by late July, Belle and three other tugs were towed to Hatteras Inlet by the sidewheel steamer USS Nansemond, entered the sounds, and proceeded under their own power to the mouth of the Roanoke River.

There, Belle performed picket duty, ready to sound the alarm should Albemarle reappear and then to attempt to torpedo the Southern ram.

Belle, by then commanded by Acting Master James G. Green, took part in the operation lashed to the port and unengaged side of USS Otsego so that she might keep her partner in motion should that double-ender’s engines be disabled.

Late in May 1865, Belle left North Carolina waters and headed for New York City where she was sold at auction on July 12, 1865 to Cozzens and Co. Re-documented on September 9, 1865, the ship operated in private hands until abandoned in 1891.