USS Annie ( 1863 ) USS " Annie " ( 1862 ) was a schooner captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as a ship ’ s tender in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways . Blockade runner " Annie " captured by USS " Fort Henry " . On the evening of 26 February 1863 , armed boats commanded by Acting Master Robert B . Smith from the Union sidewheel steamer captured " Anna " while that schooner was attempting to slip through the blockade and enter the Suwanee River with a widely varied cargo from the Bahamas . The prize ' s master , Capt . H . Hanson , acknowledged that he was " . . . endeavoring to run the blockade . " Confusion over vessel ’ s lineage . The report of this action does not mention that the prize had ever carried any other name . However , later records maintain that she had been called " La Criala " when captured and was renamed " Anna " at the beginning of her service in the Union Navy . A schooner called " La Criolla " had been captured by the Union sidewheeler some 25 miles southeast of the Charleston , South Carolina , bar and , subsequently , had been condemned and sold by the Federal prize court at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . It is possible that the purchaser of " La Criolla " renamed her " Anna " and she was the vessel captured on 26 February 1863 by " Fort Henry " . If so , she had been built , according to an inspecting officer from " Bienville " , " . . . in one of the Northern States in the year 1857 , and was [ originally ] named " Nora " . " However , evidence that this was the case is far from conclusive . Acquired by the Union Navy , and assigned to the East Gulf blockade . " Anna " was condemned by the Key West , Florida , prize court and the Union Navy purchased her on 11 March 1863 for service in the East Gulf Blockading Squadron . Her name first appeared on the list of vessels composing that squadron in a report dated the 16th and bore the notation , " Tender to " Dole " , fitting out . " By 1 April , she had begun her active service and was stationed at Boca Grande . However , for some unknown reason , the vessel ' s name appeared as " Annie " and so it remained throughout her naval service . Almost a year later , on 8 March 1864 , the squadron commanding officer , Acting Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey , explained this discrepancy to the Navy Department . " Annie " captures blockade runners " Mattie " and " Dream " . On the morning of the 13th , " Annie " — Acting Ensign James S . Williams in command — took her first prize , the schooner " Mattie " which was attempting to run into the Crystal River , Florida , with a diverse cargo . Williams placed a crew on board the prize and sent her to Key West in charge of Master ' s Mate Marcellus Jackson . About half an hour before noon on 28 April , " Annie " sighted , chased , and fired upon " Dream " before that British schooner escaped into Spanish territorial waters off Cuba . This action prompted a protest by the English master and added to the already large list of incidents that kept relations between the Federal Government and the United Kingdom tense throughout the Civil War . Continued Florida operations . " Annie " scored again while proceeding to Tampa Bay on 11 July when she took the whaleboat " Alice " and her crew of six — from Havana , Cuba — behind Cotteral ' s Key . Williams had been informed of the presence of the boat by the keeper of the Northwest Channel lighthouse who feared that she might attack his outpost . Another prize came " Annie ' s " , way on the afternoon of 20 October when she captured the British schooner " Martha Jane " , outward - bound from Bayport , Florida , laden with cotton . Ten days later , " Annie " joined the armed launch of the screw gunboat — which she was then tending — in chasing " Meteor " and caught that British schooner which was attempting to slip into Bayport , Florida , with an assorted cargo from Havana . " Annie " and the launch again teamed up on 7 November when they took the British schooner " Paul " which — although cleared from Havana for Matamoras — was approaching the Florida coast with diverse merchandise . Assigned as tender to " Takoma " and other Union ships . In the second half of February 1864 , " Annie " left " Sagamore " and was attached to the screw gunboat " Takoma " ; and , thereafter , she acted as a tender to several other Union blockaders . Blockade runner sets itself on fire , rather than be captured . On the morning of 2 March 1864 , " Annie " anchored at 9 : 00 a . m . , some five miles from land . Two hours later , a lookout reported having sighted a small boat approaching . At noon , the boat reversed course and fled , prompting the Union warship to give chase . Thirty minute ' s sailing brought her within sight of " . . . a schooner inside the reefs " and toward which the boat was rowing . At 1 : 10 p . m . , " Annie " " . . . anchored in 6 feet of water . . . " and sent an armed boat to board the schooner . However , the fleeing boat reached that vessel before the Yankee sailors boarded her , set her afire , and then hurried on shoreward . At 2 : 00 p . m . , " Annie ' s " men went on board the schooner and found her to a new vessel of about 80 tons carrying an assorted cargo which included a large amount of ammunition . The rapid spread of the flames forced them to leave the prize which exploded about three minutes after their departure . Stranger come alongside under a white flag of truce . Later that afternoon , a skiff flying a white flag came alongside " Annie " . Its sole passenger , a man who " . . . identified himself as Allen A . Stephens . . . " and reported that he was one of a group of 20 men " about to rise against the rebel Government . . . and requested arms for his company . ” After promising Allen to report the incident , they allowed him to return to land , but no further mention of this man appears in the Official Record . " Annie " disappears , later is found sunk , crew lost . During the remainder of 1864 " Annie " continued to serve in the blockade of Florida ' s gulf coast . On 30 December she departed Key West and headed for Charlotte Harbor for further blockade duty . About a fortnight later , her hulk was found resting on the bottom in about six fathoms of water . She was a total wreck , apparently the victim of an explosion ; and no trace of her crew was found ! .