As fighting in the Civil War came to an end in 1865, the Union navy had nearly 600 ships under its command. Most of the ships were scattered in U.S. rivers and
Tributaries are streams that flow into other, larger bodies of water.
tributaries and on both coasts. A few ships were located in spots around the world. Congress decided there was no need to maintain a large navy. So, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles reduced the number of ships and sailors. Most of the ships that had been in service during the war were either sold or scrapped.
The ships that survived the war and the downsizing were not in good condition. Many of them had been poorly constructed. And in the post-Civil War period,
