USS Malvern ( 1860 ) USS " Malvern " ( 1860 ) ( eventually renamed " Ella and Annie " ) was a large steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War . She was then used by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries . " Malvern " was built in 1860 as " William G . Hewes " by Harlan and Hollingsworth Co . , Wilmington , Delaware , for Charles Morgan ’ s Southern Steamship Co . She commenced regular service between New York City and New Orleans , Louisiana , 11 January 1861 . Seized by the Confederacy when war commenced . As " William G . Hewes " she was seized 28 April by the Governor of Louisiana and put into service as a Confederate blockade runner , although she was not officially registered as a Confederate steamer until 5 April 1862 . Because of her speed , maneuverability , and large cargo capacity " Hewes " was of far greater value as a blockade running transport than as a gunboat . Few of her contemporaries were able to match the 1 , 440 bale payload of cotton that she carried to Havana , Cuba , in April . When Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans , Louisiana , in April 1862 , " Hewes " shifted her operations from there to Charleston , South Carolina , and Wilmington , North Carolina . She was then renamed " Ella and Annie " . Under the Importing & Exporting Co . of South Carolina she renewed blockade running to Bermuda in April 1863 . Captured by Union forces . Damage sustained during a hurricane in September necessitated repairs in Bermuda . " Ella and Annie " departed there 5 November in company with steamer " R . E . Lee " . The two ships separated off Carolina and " Ella and Annie " steamed for Wilmington , North Carolina . She was delayed by a storm and intercepted the morning of 8 November by off New Inlet , North Carolina . Capt . Frank N . Bonneau , CSN , in command of the blockade runner , rammed the northern gunboat in a desperate attempt at evasion . A broadside from " Niphon " , Acting Master Joseph B . Breck , USN , in command , killed one man in " Ella and Annie " , riddled her hull , and brought her to . A boarding party from " Niphon " captured " Ella and Annie " and her valuable cargo , and a prize crew took her to Boston , Massachusetts . Captain Bonneau was later convicted of piracy by a Boston court , but the presiding officer , who had been a flag officer himself , suspended the sentence on the grounds that he would have acted in a like manner had he been in similar circumstances . Captured ship acquired by the Union Navy , renamed " USS Malvern " . " Ella and Annie " was condemned as a prize of war and sold to the navy . Hastily armed , renamed " Malvern " and provisionally commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard 10 December , she was sent to intercept " Chesapeake " , which had been hijacked at sea by passengers professing allegiance to the Confederacy . " Chesapeake " was found abandoned , taken to Halifax , Nova Scotia , and turned over to British authorities . " Malvern " was formally commissioned 9 February 1864 at Boston Navy Yard . Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron , she became Admiral David Dixon Porter ’ s flagship . She participated in the campaign that resulted in the capture of Fort Fisher , North Carolina , in December 1864 and January 1865 . She captured blockade running steamers " Stag " and " Charlotte " 19 January off New Inlet , North Carolina , and participated in the attack 18 February on Fort Anderson , Cape Fear River . Malvern transports President Abraham Lincoln to Richmond . She was frequently utilized for conferences between General Ulysses S . Grant , Admiral Porter , and President Abraham Lincoln . Her last notable service for the Navy was to convey the President up the James River to Richmond , Virginia , when that city was evacuated by the Confederates 2 April . " Malvern " decommissioned 24 October at New York City . Post - war service after decommissioning . " Malvern " was sold at auction at New York to S . G . Bogart , who promptly resold her to her original owner . She was again named " William G . Hewes " and reconditioned for passenger and freight service at Wilmington , Delaware , during January 1866 . Charles Morgan then operated her from New Orleans to the Texas Gulf ports until 1878 , when he turned his steamers over to the Louisiana & Texas RR . , which he owned . " Hewes " served in the West Indies fruit trade for many years . She was caught in a violent gulf storm in February 1895 and wrecked on Colorado Reef off the coast of Cuba .