In the last post, I mentioned that on April 20th, the CSS Oreto captured a ship. Wasn't that the name given to the CSS Alabama before entering Confederate service? Anyway, I wasn't sure about it. Looked it up and there sure wasn't much about a CSS Oreto. Eventually found one thread. Turns out I had already mentioned it back on my March 28th blog entry.
It was a ship captured by the CSS Florida under Lt. John Newland Maffitt. It was carrying coal, something Maffitt always needed, so he kept the ship and used it as a tender for his coal needs.
Here is what the Dictionary of American Fighting Ships had to say about the CSS Oreto (Lapwing).
The Lapwing was a bark sailing from Boston to Batavia, Java with a cargo of coal, tobacco and provisions. It was captured by the CSS Florida March 28, 1863. Maffitt transferred two howitzers, two officers and eighteen men under the command of Lt. S.W. Averett and ordered to rendezvous with the Florida at 30 degrees West Longitude along the equator or at the island of Fernando de Noronha. There, the Florida would recoal. The ship was now considered to be the tender CSS Oreto, but usually referred to as the Lapwing.
Old B-R'er
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