Ron van Maanen
Launched at the yard of Harlan and Hollingsworth Company at Wilmington, Delaware on 15 October 1860 for account of the Charles Morgan’s Southern Steamship Company as the William G. Hewes and since 11 January 1861 in service for a regular line between New York City and New Orleans. The Governor of Louisiana seized the ship on 28 April that year and she became a Confederate blockade runner although until 5 April a year later not officially. In a later stadium she was renamed Ella and Annie until being captured by the Northern forces on 8 November 1863off New Inlet, North Carolina. The Union navy bought her and take her provisionally in service on 10 December as the USS Malvern and on 9 February of the next year formally. Decommissioned on 24 October was she at a n auction at New York to S.G. Bogart who sold her to the original owner the Charles Morgan’s Southern Steamship Company and with her original name William G. Hewes she was used as a freighter/passenger ship. In 1878 she was transferred to the Louisiana & Texas RR also property of Morgan and now used as a West Indies fruit trader until she was during a gale in 20 February 1895 lost on Colorado Reef, Cuban Coast.
With a displacement of 1,477 tons or new register tonnage of 1,230 tons were her dimensions 239’4”x 33’x 10’ or 72,95 x 10 x 3,0 metres. Her crew numbered 68 men and the armament consisted of 4-20pdr breech loaders and 8-12pdr smoothbores. The vertical beam steam engine and one boiler supplied 500 hp.
