<P> The Union naval ships enforcing the blockade were divided into squadrons based on their area of operation . </P> <P> The Atlantic Blockading Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy created in the early days of the American Civil War to enforce a blockade of the ports of the Confederate States . It was originally formed in 1861 as the Coast Blockading Squadron before being renamed May 17, 1861 . It was split the same year for the creation of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . </P> <P> The North Atlantic Blockading Squadron was based at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and was tasked with coverage of Virginia and North Carolina . Its official range of operation was from the Potomac River to Cape Fear in North Carolina . It was tasked primarily with preventing Confederate ships from supplying troops and with supporting Union troops . It was created when the Atlantic Blockading Squadron was split between the North and South Atlantic Blockading Squadrons on 29 October 1861 . After the end of the war, the squadron was merged into the Atlantic Squadron on 25 July 1865 . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Squadron Commander </Th> <Th> From </Th> <Th> To </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough </Td> <Td> 18 September 1861 </Td> <Td> 4 September 1862 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Acting Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee </Td> <Td> 5 September 1862 </Td> <Td> 11 October 1864 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter </Td> <Td> 12 October 1864 </Td> <Td> 27 April 1865 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Acting Rear Admiral William Radford </Td> <Td> 28 April 1865 </Td> <Td> 25 July 1865 </Td> </Tr> </Table>

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