USS Narcissus was a screw steamer launched in July 1863 as Mary Cook at East Albany, N.Y. It was purchased by the Union Navy at New York City on 23 September 1863 from James D. Stevenson James D. and commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 2 February 1864, Ensign William G. Jones soon got underway south; and touched at Port Royal, South Carolina for fuel on 14 February, before pushing on to the Gulf of Mexico. She joined the West Gulf Blockading Squadron at New Orleans late in the month and was assigned to patrol and blockade duty in Mississippi Sound. On the morning of 24 August, she captured sloop in Biloxi Bay, Mississippi Sound, and took the prize to New Orleans for adjudication.

Subsequently ordered to Mobile Bay, Narcissus supported clean-up operations following the great Union naval victory there on 5 August. She struck a Confederate torpedo off Mobile in a heavy storm on 7 December and sank within 15 minutes without loss of life.

Raised in the closing days of 1864, Narcissus was repaired at Pensacola early in 1865 and served in the gulf as a dispatch boat through the end of the war. She departed Pensacola on New Year's Day 1866, was wrecked, and sank at Egmont Key, Florida on January 4, 1866 with loss of all on board.

Florida Aquarium Video

The Narcissus has been declared an Underwater Archaeology Site. The reef ball pictured below was placed from the Coast Guard Cutter Vise (Watch video here) in January 13, 2015 and a formal dedication ceremony was held at the Florida Aquarium on January 20th  with a live video feed from the wreck site with one of the Narcissus crew members descendants in attendance. Click on the link below for an interactive tour of the wreck site provided by Florida Museums in the Sea.

USS Narcissus Wreck Site