19thc engraving, Incidents of a Steamship Voyage Across The Atlantic - Signaling a Passing Steamer in Mid Ocean - A Character Sketch on the Promenade Deck of the Steamship "State of Georgia," A Vessel of the State Line. From an illustrated newspaper of the day. 11" X 15". **** The USS State of Georgia was a large steamer with powerful guns acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. State of Georgia, with her crew of 113 sailors and officers, was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in its blockade of Confederate waterways. A side-wheel steamer built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1851 by Vaughn & Lynn, the ship was purchased by the Union Navy at Philadelphia on 25 September 1861 from the Philadelphia and Savannah Steamship Co. It was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 20 November 1861, Commander James F. Armstrong in command.