Back on my August 4th Naval Happenings I wrote that the USS Unadilla had captured the British blockade-running steamer Lodina at Hell Gate, Georgia, and that led to one of my famous two hour detours to find out more about that place, which I had never heard of before.
I also had never heard of a blockade-runner by that name. Thanks to good old Wikipedia, I learned more.
The Lodona was a bark-rigged iron screw steamer built at Kingston-upon-Hull, England in 1862 and owned by Z.C. Pearson of London. It was evidently captured very early in its career if not on its first attempt through the blockade.
It was taken to Philadelphia under Lt. C.H. Greene and condemned, making for a nice payday for the Unadilla's crew. Of course, the Navy saw that this would be a perfect new ship to pursue other runners and it was purchased in prize court 20 Sept 1862, and after renovation for blockade duty, commissioned as the USS Lodona in Philadelphia 5 Jan 1863.
Blockade-Runners Capturing B-R's, Who'd A-Thought? --Old B-Runner
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