Could Jeffersons Gunboat Fleet Prove Useful In Any Possible Scenario?

As many of you know in the beginning of the 19th century Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic Republicans virtually destroyed the US navy and in its place built a fleet of short ranged gunboats. The gunboats were supposed to fill the role of protecting the coast of America while at the same time not entangling America in foreign involvements.

Now OTL Jefferson's gunboats proved pretty much completely useless. They were too slow and small to be much good at anything. A single hit from a naval cannon would usually completely destroy them. They were very hard to crew in a timely manner.

My question is could it be conceivably possible that Jefferson's boondoggle could prove useful in anyway at all?
 
Piracy suppression, perhaps, especially if some pirate lord sets up shop on the coast of Alabama or other thinly-settled territory claimed by the US and actually manages to control territory and assemble something resembling a fleet.
 
Piracy suppression, perhaps, especially if some pirate lord sets up shop on the coast of Alabama or other thinly-settled territory claimed by the US and actually manages to control territory and assemble something resembling a fleet.

Texas perhaps. I don't think that would even do it. Since a pirate lord is going to have real ships. So not likely. Maybe revenue cutters?
 
The gunboats might have been useful if they were steam powered. They are still coastal defense units, but would be able to out-manuever sailing men-of-war.
 
Change the Design to faster Hulls, and Schoneer Rigged, So they are the same [or better] than most Sloops of War. [SoW = 24 or less Guns; but usually meant ~12]
 
Gunboats were pretty useful for port defense, but if they were small enough to be vulnerable to a single hit, they can't have been very useful even by the standards of 18th-century gunboats. A slightly bigger hull and you'd have an effective revenue and piracy suppression fleet, though. OTL they built small schooners and whaleboats for that.
 
Maybe to combat smuggling in tight coastal waters such as little bays, inlets, estuarys, if there's a really serious problem with that, & there's a lot of 'leakers' slipping past the patrols by more conventional warships & revenue cutters farther out to sea for whatever reason in that TL....
 
Texas perhaps. I don't think that would even do it. Since a pirate lord is going to have real ships. So not likely. Maybe revenue cutters?

There's real ships and then there are real ships. A pirate lord might be able to collect something resembling an actual warship, but not significant numbers of ships-of-the-line.
 
Maybe a hyped-up Barbary fleet heads for the US. Jefferson's gunboats destroy them not with force but skill?

The Barbary States had real fleets. They were countries that were funded by extortion, not criminal gangs.

Of course, you did say "by skill." It would take a lot of skill to defeat a significant war-fleet using dinky gunboats.
 
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