USS Santiago de Cuba was a side-wheel steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the first year of the American Civil War.

Her paddle wheels, boilers, steam engine, and associated machinery were removed and portions of her hull rebuilt to accommodate the new propulsion system.

There is ample evidence, both in official Navy communications[7] and in her Federal documentation[8] as a merchant ship, that her name was "Santiago de Cuba".

Nonetheless, various contemporaneous newspaper reports and other print materials refer to her with an Anglicized version of her name, "St. Jago de Cuba".

After coaling, she was ordered to patrol between Cape Canaveral, Florida and Providence Channel, a deep-water route through the Bahamas archipelago.

About 100 miles offshore of Charleston, South Carolina on 23 April 1862, Santiago de Cuba captured a schooner without a name, papers, or flag, but which was loaded with cotton.

Two days later, 25 April 1862, Ridgely captured the steamer Ella Warley (ex-Isabel), and put a prize crew of 27 men aboard.

While en route, she captured to schooner Lucy C. Holmes, laden with cotton, which had sailed from Charleston, South Carolina bound for Nassau.

She was laden with armaments including eight 6-pounder cannon, 2000 Enfield rifles, gunpowder, shells, cartridges, and 83 bales of army blankets marked "C.S.A", altogether reported to be worth $200,000.

[19][20] Two of the Austrian 6-pounder cannons captured by Santiago de Cuba are on display in Leutze Park at the Washington Navy Yard.

[21] During her next cruise, on 27 August 1862, she captured the schooner Lavinia, which had sailed from Wilmington, North Carolina with a load of turpentine for Nassau.

On 8 September 1862, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles reassigned Santiago de Cuba to a newly organized "Flying Squadron," created to seek out and capture Confederate commerce raiders Alabama and Florida.

On 21 June 1863, she and her new captain overtook the Victory off Palmetto Point, Eleuthera Island, ending a long chase after the British steamer had slipped through the blockade off Charleston with a cargo of 1,000 bales of cotton, tobacco, and turpentine.

[32] In late 1864, the ship was reassigned from blockade duty to the North Atlantic Squadron commanded by Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter.

Santiago de Cuba sailed in support of the attack on Fort Fisher at the mouth of the Cape Fear River on Christmas Eve, 1864.

During the operation, Santiago de Cuba protected the landing troops by shelling the Flag Pond artillery battery.

The army landed troops and Santiago de Cuba led seven other vessels in a creeping bombardment in front of them as they advanced on the fort.

The sailors and marines fought a bloody melee with the Confederate troops, but about 30 reached the top of the fort's parapet and briefly managed to plant the U.S. flag there.

They were shortly swept back, but the furious assault drew defending troops away from the main army attack which then succeeded in breaking into the fort and capturing it.

With the transcontinental railroad still a few years into the future, this Central American sea route was still a viable business when the Civil War ended.

The stem, rudder, and deck house were damaged and the ship was forced to turn back to New York for repairs, where she arrived 7 October 1866.

While the ship was in no immediate danger, prudence called for landing the passengers before weather turned for the worse, or the surf began to break-up the vessel.

It is evident from this pattern of service that the Santiago de Cuba was no longer a foundational part of any fleet, but rather a short-term replacement for more capable ships that were under construction or repair.

Santiago de Cuba began sailing for the New York and Havana Mail Line owned by F. Alexandre & Sons in December 1868.

[52][53] At the end of her trip to New Orleans for the Dispatch Line, Webb sent Santiago de Cuba to Le Havre with a stop in Bermuda.

Clyde took the extraordinary step of removing her boilers, steam engine, paddle wheels and associated machinery and rebuilding her as a propeller steamer.

[6] After her refit, Clyde used Santiago de Cuba much as Webb had, mixing charters and sailings for his own company as opportunities presented themselves.

[67] William P. Clyde took Santiago de Cuba off charter to support his newly established New York and Havana Direct Mail Line in May 1878.

After three weeks undergoing repairs, on 19 July 1879, she sailed down the Delaware River on her way back to New York to resume her runs to Havana.

After her runs to Boston, Clyde was unable to find additional employment for the ship and she sat idle in Brooklyn's Erie Basin for the next five years.