Whitehall left Newport News, Virginia, for Port Royal on 5 November—only to be forced back to Hampton Roads by high seas on 6 November.

After an action lasting one-half hour, Sea Bird withdrew from the battle and retired under the protection of Confederate shore batteries.

Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough, commanding the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, called Whitehall "the worst sea boat of all the ferryboats with which I have had to do, and certainly the most unfortunate."

On 8 March, federal gunboats, including Whitehall, attempted to draw the Rebel vessel away from Union warships anchored off Newport News, Virginia.

Early on the morning of March 10, 1862 at Old Point Comfort, Virginia, a flash fire swept and totally destroyed Whitehall.