 "Para" — a wooden schooner — was purchased from James Bishop & Co., New York City on 9 September 1861 and commissioned on 4 February 1862, Acting Master Edward J. Furber in command.Assigned first to the Gulf Squadron, "Para" participated in the bombardment of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip from 18–24 April 1862.Later transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, she operated along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for the remainder of the war.