She was used by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Transferred to the United States Department of the Navy for special service in September 1861, under command of Lieutenant Thomas S. Phelps.

On 1 April 1862, she joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for duty in Hampton Roads and adjacent waters.

Corwin repulsed another attack by Curlew in Hatteras Inlet on 14 November; and rendered effective assistance to the steamer Quinnebaug aground off Beaufort, North Carolina on 22 July 1865.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.