Union authorities believed Confederate commissioners John Slidell and James Mason had left Charleston aboard the CSS Nashville which is why ships were sent to look for her. Mason and Slidell had originally considered taking the Nashville, but had canceled their plans when word got out and taken the Theodora instead.
From Wikipedia.
The CSS Nashvillewas originally the USMS Nashville (US Mail Service Ship), built in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (obviously, a lot of ships built there) in 1853.
During the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the Nashville blundered into Charleston harbor without flying the US flag and was accidentally fired upon by the USRC Harriet Lane, the first shots of the Naval war.
The Nashville was later seized by Confederates and fitted out as a cruiser under Lt. Robert Pegram, CSN. It ran the blockade of Charleston October 21, 1861, and sailed directly to Southampton, England, where it became the first to fly the Confederate flag in English waters.
That did not end its naval career, however.
Perhaps Mason and Slidell Should Have Taken the Nashville Anyway. then There Would Not Have Been the Trent Affair. --Old B-Runner
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