SS Syren SS " Syren " ( also spelled " Siren " ) was a privately owned iron - hulled sidewheel steamship and blockade runner built at Greenwich , Kent , England in 1863 , designed for outrunning and evading the Union ships on blockade patrol around the Confederate States coastline during the American Civil War . Owned by the Charleston Importing and Exporting Company , " Syren " made her first run on 5 November 1863 , importing supplies for the Confederacy from Nassau to Wilmington . " Syren " completed a record 33 runs through the Union blockade , the most of any blockade runner , before being captured while berthed at Charleston Harbor by invading Union forces . History . After President Lincoln had proclaimed a blockade along the coastlines surrounding the newly formed Confederate States , the Confederacy was forced to turn to overseas sources for much of its supply . Getting this supply into southern harbors involved running through and evading the Union ships on blockade patrol . To meet this special task special ' blockade runners ' were designed and built by various prominent shipping companies of the time . Among the most notable was The ' Charleston Importing and Exporting Company ' who built the SS " Syren " , while ' John Fraser and Company ' , built the " Fox " , the ' Chicora Importing and Exporting Company ' building the " Chicora " , and ' Druid Company ' , with their " Druid " . The " Syren " was a seagoing steam vessel and as a blockade runner , was constructed long and narrow with a flat bottom and with lighter gauge steel for its hull , giving the ship a shallow draft that allowed it to cut through the water much easier . Equipped with two steam engines and a twin paddle - wheel system these blockade runners were the fastest seagoing vessels in use at that time . Because most of the runs were made at night these vessels were painted a dark gray color to better conceal their profile against the night sea , a practiced that eventually earned them the name " greyhound " . Just before coming into sight of the Confederate coastline the steamers would often switch to burning a smokeless anthracite coal which greatly reduced their profile against the horizon . A typical blockade runner would burn 50 - 60 tons of coal a day . Sometimes cotton soaked in turpentine would be used as fuel , as it gave off little smoke while producing an intense heat that resulted in a marked increase in the ship ' s speed . Blockade running . SS " Syren " began her career as a blockade runner later in the war taking her maiden voyage on 5 November 1863 from Nassau to Wilmington . She was used to transport badly needed arms and other military supplies from Nassau into Charleston Harbor . Along with carrying cargo , she was used to carry mail and other correspondence in and out of the Confederacy . Surviving examples of this mail are scarce and are kept by historians , collectors and museums as dated documentation of the various voyages made by this ship . Little is known about the various commanders who served aboard the " Syren " , but much of this ship ' s success as a blockade runner can be attributed to her daring captains who , because of the ships faster speed , ignored many of the norms of blockade - running . With her tremendous success rate the " Syren " was considered the only steamship necessary to make substantial profits for the Charleston Importing and Exporting Company . Capture . The " Syren " was captured , along with " Celt , Deer " and " Lady Davis " on February 18 , 1865 , in Charleston harbor at the Ashley River where she had successfully slipped through the blockade the night before . She was captured by the USS " Gladiolus " , acting Ensign Napoleon Boughton in command . The USS " Commodore Macdonough " had also arrived at the scene but turned back because the " Gladiolus " had already secured the scene . After being abandoned by her crew , her pipes cut and set on fire , the Union Army and Navy soon appeared on the scene and organized a fire brigade of soldiers and blacks , extinguishing the flames before they took hold and did much damage . After the ship was saved and salvaged she was sailed north to Boston for condemnation as a prize of war where the crew of the " Gladiolus " claimed both salvage and prize - money . Because the " Syren " was abandoned and not actually captured at the hands of the crew who first arrived at the scene but as a result of the siege of Charleston by Union forces there was litigation that followed involving the dispersal of this prize of war between the U . S . Government and the ' capturing ' crew members of the " Gladious " , i . e . the claimants . The " Syren " later served as a merchantman for the U . S . Navy .