USS Bermuda ( 1861 ) USS " Bermuda " ( 1861 ) was a large steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was used by the Union Navy as a cargo and general transport ship in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways , primarily in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico . However , despite being a valuable cargo ship , she proved very adept at capturing blockade runners as her record proves . Confederate blockade runner . " Bermuda " — an iron - hulled screw steamer — was built in 1861 at Stockton - on - Tees , England , by Pearse and Lockwood to take advantage of the extraordinary profits which could be made by running cargoes of war - making materiel through the Union blockade to the munitions - hungry Confederacy . Originally owned by Edwin Haigh , a Liverpool cotton broker , the ship was secretly sold — about the time of her completion — to Messrs . A . S . Henckle and George Alfred Trenholme of Charleston , South Carolina . While her new owners hoped to realize a profit from operating the steamer , they evinced even more interest in proving the Federal blockade of the South ineffective and therefore non - binding in international law . By proving the Union Navy ’ s efforts to close Southern ports only a “ paper blockade , ” they would prompt other investors to follow their example and thus assure the South a steady flow of supplies to sustain its struggle for independence . " Bermuda " was then chartered to Frasier Trenholme and Co . , a British corporation that served the Confederate government as its commercial and financial agent in the British Isles . Soon after she was launched , probably in late July or early August 1861 , " Bermuda " — Eugene L . Tessier , master — dropped down the Tees River to West Hartlepool where she loaded the first cargo purchased in England by agents of the Confederate War Department . She departed West Hartlepool on 18 August , proceeded south along England ’ s North Sea coast , transited the Strait of Dover , and steamed the length of the English Channel to Falmouth , Cornwall , where she arrived on the morning of the 22d . She topped off her coal bunkers there and resumed her westward voyage , leaving above her wake a cloud of false rumors intended to cloak her destination and the true nature of her mission . Some said that she was a supply ship taking provisions and munitions to the Royal Navy ; others that she was carrying a general cargo to Cuba . Still others identified her as a merchantman bound for one of the British colonies . While these cover stories did not mislead Federal agents in the British Isles , they did succeed in preventing " Bermuda ’ s " being held in port for violating the United Kingdom ’ s Foreign Enlistment Act . After crossing the Atlantic Ocean under British colors , " Bermuda " took advantage of a severe storm that had forced the blockading Union frigate Savannah out to sea and slipped into Savannah , Georgia , where she delivered a million - dollar cargo of war material . She then filled her holds with some 2 , 000 bales of cotton that she hoped to deliver in England to support Confederate credit abroad . The steamer departed Savannah on the night of 1 November 1861 and slipped through the Union blockade before dawn the next morning . After pausing at Bermuda and at Le Havre , France , en route , she reached Liverpool , England , on 23 January 1862 . " Bermuda " , and vessels like her , had been “ fitted out in English ports , laden with arms , munitions , and contraband of war , clearing with British papers and sailing under the English flag … destined for … the insurrectionary regions of our country with supplies for the rebels , ” Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles had written on 1 December 1861 , an “ abuse [ that ] must be corrected and this traffic stopped . ” Since " Bermuda ’ s " maiden voyage , the Union Navy had acquired many ships and tightened the blockade to implement Welles ’ directives . It had done so so effectively that only very fast , shallow draft vessels stood much chance of slipping through . Given " Bermuda ’ s " comparatively slow speed and almost 17 - foot draft , her owners opted to decide that rather than risk capture by attempting another run to a Confederate port , they would discharge her cargo at Bermuda for reloading into smaller and speedier ships for the final leg of its journey . Under Charles W . Westendorff , a native of Charleston , " Bermuda " put to sea again on or near 18 February 1862 and set course for Bermuda where she arrived sometime before 24 March . British authorities , however , refused to permit her to unload the gunpowder that filled her holds . Protracted efforts having failed to persuade these officials to permit the ship to land her ordnance cargo , " Bermuda " stood out for Nassau , Bahamas , on 22 April where a cargo of cotton lay awaiting her for the voyage back to Liverpool . Capture . On the morning of the 27th , however , as " Bermuda " approached Great Abaco Island , the Union screw steamer " Mercedita " , cruising off the Providence Channel as part of the East Division , Gulf Blockading Squadron , fell in with her and gave chase . At a point somewhere between three and seven miles northeast of the Hole - in - the - Wall Light , a shot across her bow brought " Bermuda " to . The ensuing boarding party not only found discrepancies in the cargo manifests , but about a thousand tons of contraband cargo , including : Since the ship ’ s log yielded the information that she had “ run the blockade before ” and her captain admitted that her cargo was “ intended finally to reach the rebel States , ” Comdr . Henry S . Stellwagen , " Mercedita ’ s " commanding officer , seized " Bermuda " and sent her to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , under Lt . Trevett Abbot and a 30 - man prize crew . Part of the cargo that was seized was a substantial shipment of blank paper sheets that were intended for the printing of Confederate currency . Made from seaweed pulp in England , the paper was watermarked CSA . Transferred to Philadelphia , the paper eventually became the property of the Currency Bureau ( precursor to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing ) . The Currency bureau used the paper for the printing of specimen notes of fractional currency and so specimen notes exist with the CSA watermark , including the notes on the Fractional currency shield . Sheets of the blank paper are known to exist . This seizure was by far the most important of the entire cargo . After arriving at that port on 3 May , the ship was arraigned before the United States District Court at Philadelphia . Proceedings began on 12 August and the concluding arguments were heard four days later . However , the court did not condemn the steamer until 5 March 1863 , almost a year after her capture . The vessel was then purchased by the Union Navy and fitted out at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for service as a supply vessel . Commissioned on 13 May 1863 , Acting Master J . W . Smith in command , " Bermuda " headed down the Delaware River later that day with a cargo of supplies for the two blockading squadrons operating in the Gulf of Mexico . Eight days later , she arrived at the mouth of Florida ' s Indian River where she issued supplies to the bark " Gem of the Sea " on blockade duty there . This began more than two years of service in which she brought the provisions that enabled Federal warships to remain on guard off Confederate ports . During this period , she made 16 round - trip voyages to the gulf during most of which she concentrated her efforts on filling the needs of Rear Admiral David G . Farragut ’ s West Gulf Blockading Squadron . Besides issuing stores , she usually also carried passengers — officers and men going to and from blockade duty , sick sailors who were returning north to recuperate , and prisoners who had been captured afloat or ashore . On return passages , she frequently had on board cotton from the holds of blockade runners that had been taken while attempting escape to sea . During her first voyage , after filling the needs of " Gem of the Sea " , she embarked three prisoners from that bark and proceeded on to Key West , Florida , where she arrived on 23 May and discharged ordnance and supplies . Three days later , she began issuing stores at Tampa Bay and then moved farther north along Florida ’ s gulf coast to St . Marks , Florida , where she arrived on the 29th . The last day of May found the steamer issuing stores at St . Andrew ’ s Bay ; and , on 1 June , she rendered similar service at Pensacola , Florida . She provisioned the fleet off Mobile Bay the next day , stood out to sea on the 3d , and entered the Mississippi River on the 4th . Following more than a week at Quarantine , she reached New Orleans , Louisiana , on the 13th . Two days later , she descended the river and stood out to sea for a run to Rear Admiral David Farragut ’ s ships off Galveston , Texas , which she reached on the 17th . Beginning her long homeward voyage the next day , " Bermuda " retraced her outward path , stopping again at New Orleans , off Mobile Bay , and at Pensacola . At the latter port , she received on board 36 seamen and 42 bales of cotton for the journey north . She got underway again on 26 June , passed Cedar Key s on the 29th , and unloaded all remaining stores at Key West on 1 July . The next day , she took the American schooner " Ascension " in tow and sailed for Port Royal , South Carolina . She delivered her charge at that port on the 5th and then pushed on up the Atlantic coast . After brief stops at Hampton Roads , Virginia , and at Newport News , Virginia , the steamer reached Portsmouth , New Hampshire , on the 12th . " Bermuda " headed south two days later and entered the Delaware River early on the 18th . Reaching the Philadelphia Navy Yard later that day , the ship soon began undergoing brief repairs , took on stores and ordnance on the 24th and , the following day , dropped down stream and put to sea for her next trip to the gulf . " Bermuda ' s " subsequent voyages south were , for the most part , much like her first except that they usually took her farther west and south along the coast of Texas , occasionally all the way to the Mexican border at the mouth of the Rio Grande . Besides carrying out her prosaic but vital logistical mission for the Union Navy , " Bermuda " kept a sharp lookout for any vessel that might be attempting to slip into or to escape from an inlet along the Confederate coast . More than once , her vigilance paid rich dividends . About mid - day on 14 August 1863 — while steaming from Brownsville , Texas , toward Galveston , Texas , during her second voyage under the Stars and Stripes - - " Bermuda " sighted an unidentified sail some 138 miles from Matamoras , Mexico , and steering toward Matagorda , Texas . The Union supply ship overtook and boarded the stranger at 3 : 20 p . m . and learned that she was the British schooner " Artist " of Nassau , Bahamas , that had purportedly quit Havana , Cuba , for Matamoras . Members of her crew tried to justify their vessel ’ s compromising course and position by claiming that their captain had died of yellow fever and that no other navigator was on board . The fact that the schooner ’ s chronometer was wound , however , and that her sextant was set at the correct meridian altitude for that date belied that explanation for her being so far off course . As a result , Smith seized the small ship — with her cargo of liquors , wines , medicines , and other varied commodities — as a lawful prize . That evening , a lookout in " Bermuda " spotted another sail to the north ; and the steamer changed course to pursue this new stranger . Some four hours later , she overhauled the chase ; “ . . . found her to be the British schooner " Carmita " , from Velasco , Texas . . . ” bound for Balize , Honduras , with a cargo of cotton ; and sent her to Key West , Florida , under a prize crew . On her next cruise to the gulf , she again found good hunting in the waters off the Texas coast . At 8 : 10 on the morning of 2 October 1863 , " Bermuda " fired a gun across a schooner ’ s bow , prompting her to heave to about six miles off Matagorda . The vessel proved to be the English " Florie " , purportedly bound from New Orleans , Louisiana , to Matamoras . Her master “ . . . pretended that he did not know his position and thought he was 80 miles from land . ” Smith took the schooner and sent her to New Orleans under a prize crew for adjudication . The main items in her assorted cargo were medicine , wine , and saddles much needed by the Confederate cavalry . On her next cruise , while standing out of Pensacola , Florida , on the afternoon of 19 November 1863 , " Bermuda " saw three schooners in company with a large lugger apparently heading toward that port . As the Union supply ship approached , the strangers separated . Smith stopped the nearest by a shell across her bow , and she proved to be the " Venice " of New Orleans which was heading for Pensacola , Florida , under charter by the Union Army . Her master explained that the other schooners , " Norman " and " Mary Campbell " , also were supposed to be heading for Pensacola under similar charters . He added that he , too , was puzzled by the latter ' s having changed course to seaward . Sensing something amiss , Smith gave chase and , after a four - hour pursuit in which he fired seven shells at his quarry , overtook and boarded " Mary Campbell " . He learned that earlier that day , presumably before daylight since no member of " Venice ’ s " crew had observed the action , a Confederate raiding party of 16 men under Acting Master James Duke , CSN , had captured " Mary Campbell " and Norman and probably entertained covetous designs upon " Venice " when " Bermuda " hove into view . Duke — already notorious because of earlier captures of Union vessels — fled toward land in " Norman " with 10 members of the lugger ’ s crew and , after running that schooner aground and setting her afire , escaped ashore . Smith returned " Mary Campbell " to her original master and crew and permitted them to complete their original voyage to Pensacola . On " Bermuda ’ s " seventh cruise to the gulf , she encountered a sloop off the Atlantic coast of Florida and , after a brief pursuit , brought the stranger to with a shot across her bow . The chase proved to be the sloop " Fortunate " that had recently emerged from Indian River Inlet laden with cotton and turpentine . Smith transferred the cargo to his own ship , took the prize in tow , and resumed his course toward Port Royal . However , the sloop began taking on water , parted the towline , and sank some four hours later . Two days later , " Bermuda " retrieved a large quantity of floating cotton bales undoubtedly jettisoned by some blockade runner attempting to escape a pursuer . " Bermuda " continued shuttling between Philadelphia and the gulf through the end of the Civil War and most of the ensuing summer . She returned north from her last cruise — in which she went no farther than Key West — on 16 September 1865 . Decommissioning and sale . " Bermuda " was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 22 September " 1865 " . She was sold at public auction on the same day , to Samuel C . Cook . Under the names " General Meade " and " Bahamas " , she saw merchant service until 10 February 1882 , when she foundered in a storm while en route from Puerto Rico to New York City .