USS Penguin-- Part 1: Sank First Blockade-Runner at Wilmington, N.C.

On August 11, 2016, I wrote about the USS Penguin chasing the blockade runner Louisa onto a shoal near Cape Fear River, North Carolina, on August 11, 1861, where the runner sank.

This was the first mention I'd come across of a blockade-runner being sunk in and around the Wilmington/Cape Fear River area during the war.

On July 14, 1861, the USS Daylight, under Commander Samuel Lockwood, had initiated the blockade at Wilmington.

I had never heard of any ship named the USS Penguin so had to look it up.

--Old B-Runner