On 26 September, State of Georgia and USS Mystic chased an unidentified schooner ashore at New Inlet, North Carolina, and destroyed her.

But the two Union ships collided in the dark; and State of Georgia was forced to sail to the Washington Navy Yard early in October for repairs which kept her out of action until late in December.

She then towed the monitor USS Passaic from Hampton Roads to Beaufort and returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 3 January 1863 before resuming blockade duty off Wilmington.

Recommissioned on 5 January 1865, State of Georgia was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron for the closing months of the Civil War.

She proceeded to the coast of South Carolina to join in naval operations clearing the way and supporting General William Tecumseh Sherman's path as he started marching north from Savannah, Georgia.

On 9 June, State of Georgia and USS Huntsville departed Aspinwall and proceeded to a position near Roncador Bank off the coast of Nicaragua to rescue the survivors of the wrecked Golden Rule.