USS De Soto-- Part 9: Chasing Down Steamers But With reduced Power

The De Soto continued its patrols.  It seized the steamer Alice Vivian 16 August which had no papers.  the next day the steamer Nita was taken, again, with no papers.  No papers meant the ship most likely was a blockade runner.

All the constant steaming caused serious problems with the De Soto's boilers and as a result, a lot of speed was lost.  On 12 September, the De Soto had a nine-hour chase of the Montgomery before capturing it.  The De Soto used both steam and sail.  Captain Walker rather disgustedly said the chase would have been 1/4 shorter had his boilers been up to par.

With no major overhaul in sight, the crew tinkered with the boilers and the ship returned to a lot of its former speed.  On 22 September the De Soto chased down the screw steamer Leviathan.

--Old B-R'er