USS Preston (1865)

The USS Preston (1865) was a blockade-running steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

History
United States
Name:	USS Preston
Laid down:	date unknown
Launched:	date unknown
In service:	1865
Out of service:	1865
Stricken:	1868 (est.)
Homeport:	Port Royal, South Carolina Washington Navy Yard
Captured:	by Union Navy forces February 1865
Fate:	sold, 17 September 1868
General characteristics
Type:	Gunboat
Displacement:	230 long tons (230,000 kg)
Length:	160 ft (49 m)
Beam:	12 ft (3.7 m)
Draft:	Unknown
Propulsion:	Steam engine
Speed:	Unknown
Complement:	Unknown
Armament:	Unknown

She was placed in service in Port Royal, South Carolina, by the Union Navy as a gunboat during blockade operations against the Confederate States of America.

Captured by the Union Navy

The Preston, a "cigar shaped steamer" used to transport cotton, was captured in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina in February 1865.

Civil War service

Renamed the Preston and operated under the command of Acting Ensign William Thomas, she was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and stationed at Port Royal, South Carolina until August 1865.

Decommissioning

Then ordered north, she arrived at Washington, D.C. on 21 August and was placed in ordinary. She was sold at auction on 17 September 1868.

See also

• Blockade runners of the American Civil War
• Blockade mail of the Confederacy
• United States Navy
• List of United States Navy ships

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.