 Assigned to Rear Adm. Samuel F. DuPont’s South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, "Lodana" departed Philadelphia on 7 January 1863 for Port Royal, South Carolina, touching at Hampton Roads and Fort Monroe, Virginia, where she took in tow monitor , arriving Port Royal 5 February.The warship sailed 5 days later for Charleston, South Carolina, towing schooner "E. W. Gardner", joining the blockade there the next day.On the 19th, she headed for Bull’s Bay to take up blockading.