| America's Civil War Source |
A resource for those interested in the study of America's Civil War
| Sunday June 30, 1861 |
CSS Sumter Breaks Out
CSS Sumter, a 473-ton bark-rigged screw steam cruiser, was
built as the merchant steamship Habana at Philadelphia in 1859
for McConnell's New Orleans & Havana Line. Purchased by the
Confederate Government at New Orleans in April 1861, she was
converted to a cruiser and placed under the command of Raphael
Semmes. Renamed Sumter, she was commissioned in the
Confederate Navy on 3 June 1861 and broke through the Federal
blockade of the Mississippi River mouth on June 30. She alludes
the USS Brooklyn and head for open water
CSS Sumter, a 473-ton bark-rigged screw steam cruiser, was
built as the merchant steamship Habana at Philadelphia in 1859
for McConnell's New Orleans & Havana Line. Purchased by the
Confederate Government at New Orleans in April 1861, she was
converted to a cruiser and placed under the command of Raphael
Semmes. Renamed Sumter, she was commissioned in the
Confederate Navy on 3 June 1861 and broke through the Federal
blockade of the Mississippi River mouth on June 30. She alludes
the USS Brooklyn and head for open water