Back on June 7, 2011, I wrote about the USS Perry capturing the Confederate privateer Savannah (although Wikipedia calls the Savannah the Chotank, which was the name of the ship after the Union Navy acquired it) on June 3, 1861. This was in my Saw the Elephant Blog.
Back in 1861, the Confederacy was scrambling for any thing that floated to combat the vastly superior fleet of the North. Privateers were accepted into service. Lincoln's government considered them pirates and threatened to hand them and came close enough with one case that Jefferson Davis threatened to hang captured Union soldiers in retaliation. Lincoln quietly backed off from the explosive situation.
Anyway, I had never heard of the USS Perry, so good old Wikipedia to the rescue. The Perry led a long career in the Union Navy, being commissioned and decommissioned on many occasions. It was originally commissioned in 1843 and finally decommissioned in 1865 and sold that same year. It was 105 feet long, with a 25.6 foot beam and a crew of 67. Armament consisted of two 32-pdr. guns and six 32-pdr carronades.
When first in service, it went on a round-the-world cruise. Recommissioned for the Mexican War, it was demasted by a hurricane and returned to Philadelphia for repairs.
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
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