Fingal was designed and built as a merchantman by J & G Thomson 's Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard at Govan in Glasgow , Scotland , and was completed early in 1861 . She was described by Midshipman Dabney Scales , who served on the Atlanta before her battle with the monitors , as being a two @-@ masted , iron @-@ hulled ship 189 feet ( 57 @.@ 6 m ) long with a beam of 25 feet ( 7 @.@ 6 m ) . She had a draft of 12 feet ( 3 @.@ 7 m ) and a depth of hold of 15 feet ( 4 @.@ 6 m ) . He estimated her tonnage at around 700 tons bm . Fingal was equipped with two vertical single @-@ cylinder direct @-@ acting steam engines using steam generated by one flue @-@ tubular boiler . The engines drove the ship at a top speed of around 13 knots ( 24 km / h ; 15 mph ) . They had a bore of 39 inches ( 991 mm ) and a stroke of 30 inches ( 762 mm ) . The ship briefly operated between Glasgow and other ports in Scotland for Hutcheson 's West Highland Service before she was purchased in September 1861 by James D. Bulloch , the primary foreign agent in Great Britain for the Confederacy , to deliver the military and naval ordnance and supplies that he had purchased . To disguise his control of Fingal , and the destination of her cargo , Bulloch hired an English crew and captain and put out his destination as Bermuda and Nassau in the Bahamas . The cargo was loaded in Greenock in early October , although Bullock and the other passengers would not attempt to board until they rendezvoused with the ship at Holyhead , Wales . On the night 14 / 15 October , as she was slowly rounding the breakwater at Holyhead , Fingal rammed and sank the Austrian brig Siccardi , slowly swinging at anchor without lights . Bulloch and the passengers embarked in the steamer while Bulloch dispatched a letter to his financial agents instructing them to settle damages with the brig 's owners because he could not afford to take the time to deal with the affair lest he and Fingal be detained . The ship reached Bermuda on 2 November and , after leaving port on 7 November , Bulloch informed the crew that the steamer 's real destination was Savannah , Georgia ; he offered to take anyone who objected to the plan to Nassau . However , all of the crew agreed to join in the effort to run the Union blockade . Fingal was able slip safely into the Savannah estuary in a heavy fog on the night of 12 November without sighting any blockaders . While Fingal was discharging her cargo , Bulloch went to Richmond to confer with Stephen Mallory , Secretary of the Navy . Mallory endorsed Bulloch 's plan to load Fingal with cotton to sell on the Navy Department 's account to be used to purchase more ships and equipment in Europe . He returned to Savannah on 23 November and it took him almost a month to purchase a cargo and acquire enough coal . He made one attempt to break through the blockade on 23 December , but it proved impossible to do as the Union controlled every channel from Savannah , aided by their occupation of Tybee Island at the mouth of the Savannah River . Bulloch reported to Mallory in late January 1862 that breaking out was hopeless so Mallory ordered him to turn the ship over to another officer and to return to Europe some other way . fill in the blank  :  Fingal was designed and __________________ as a merchantman by J & G Thomson 's Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard at Govan in Glasgow , Scotland , and was completed early in 1861 . 
Output:  built