Launched at the Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard of James and George Thompson at Glasgow, Scotland on 9 May 1861 and served as the merchant ship Fingal between Glasgow and other Scottish harbours for Hutcheson’s Westland Highland Service. In September of that same year she was purchased by the Confederate Governement and became a blockade runner. She became begin 1862 part of the Confederate navy and was rebuild by Nelson and Asa F. Tift which was work was completed during the summer. On 22 November 1862 in the Confederate States was she on 17 June a year later captured by the USS Weehawken when she was grounded while underway to attack Northern forces in the Wassaw Sound. But not sooner as February 1864 was she commissioned in the US navy. After she as commissioned on 21 June 1865 was she acquired by Sam Ward on 4 May 1869 during an auction at the Philadelphia Navy yard. She was lost in December at sea off Cape Hatteras the same year underway to her new owner namely Haiti..
With a displacement of 1,006 long tons/1,022 tons were her dimensions 204’x 41’ x 15’9” or 62,2 x 12,5 x 4,8 metres. Her steam engine and one boiler allowed a speed of 10 knots. Her crew numbered 145 men while she was armed with 2-7” Brooke rifles, 2-6.4” Brooke rifles and a bow ram of steel. The casemate was protected by 4” armour and the hull by 2” armour.
The Executive documents printed by order of the House of representatives during the first session of the thirty-eight congress 1863-’64 (Washington, 1864) supplies quite a lot of details dealing with this ship (page 221 and further) including the drawings below published between the pages 224 and 225.
