The former merchant ship Japan and Virginian which was launched on 9 January 1863 at the yard of Dumbarton (Denny). She was acquired in March the same year by the Confederates and commissioned on 9 April as the CSS Georgia and captured during her short career several Northern ships and was the same year decommissioned on 28 October. Sold at Liverpool, England on 1 June next year she served as a merchant ship and was on 15 August captured by the USS Niagara off Portugal and declared prize. In 1865 was she again used as a merchant ship named Georgia until she five years later was sold to Canada. Her final fate she met on 14 January 1875 when she stranded off Tenant’s Harbor, Maine.
Rigged like a brig with a iron frame and a hull of wood. With a measurement of 690 tons, the displacement 1,150 tons and a gross tonnage of 648 tons were her dimensions 212’x 27’ x 13’9” although other sources reported 206.2”x 27.2” 14.7”. The single steeple condensing engine supplied 900 IHP and with one screw allowing a speed of 13 knots. She was armed with 2-100pdr muzzle loading riffles, 2-24pdr smoothbore guns and 1-32pdr muzzle loading rifle.
Appletons’ Annual Cyclopaedia for 1864 reported that she was an iron vessel of about 600 tons register with engines of 300 hp. On 9 April 1864 she was at Bordeaux, France and later came tidings that she was sold in England according to the rumours for 15,000 pound sterling, her crew paid off and her stores sold on an auction. Also was said that she was used by the Portuguese government for the transporting of mail from Liverpool and Lisbon to the Azores and back and she was doing this when captured.
In the publication English reports Annotated 1867 was reported that she was built by Messrs. Denny&Co. at Dumbarton in 1863, served as a Confederate cruiser and in 1864 sold at Liverpool by the plaintiff after the sale was advertised in the newspapers. The plaintiff (Edward Bates) asked on 27 July 1864 Messrs. Bradford&Co. how much the insurance premium for the hull was. She was chartered for four months for the route Liverpool-Liverpool, from there to Cape de Verde, Principe, St. Thome, Benguilla, Loando, Massamde, Ambriz and then back via these ports towards Lisbon. Later he wrote that her master was Withycombe and that her service would start on 7 August and that she was chartered for 6 months. Withycombe was master on Bates’ ships for 16 years and build many of them. Her horsepower was 200 hp and of 427 tons register. Her value was 10,000 pound sterling and the machinery another 10,000 pound sterling.
