The April 14, 2008, Daily Flag blog's Deborah Hendrick has been looking for the earliest known photo of a US flag. On April 10, 2008, she came across a picture of the USS Cairo flying its flag. She has found that the greatest number of early photos of US flags were taken of US Navy ships, many of which are blurred because of the breeze.
She also came across a picture of the Confederate blockade-runner Advance flying the rebel flag. She did some research on this ship and found that it was built in Greenock, Scotland as the Lord Clyde in 1862 ans was to serve as a sidewheel steamer River Clyde packet of 902 tons.
It was bought by the State of North Carolina in 1863 and the name changed in honor of Governor Vance. It was ahighly successful blockade-runner, making 20 voyages before being captured by the USS Santiago de Cuba off Wilmington September 10, 1864.
The US Navy bought it and it became the USS Advance and took part in the attacks on Fort Fisher, NC.
In March, 1865, the name was changed to the USS Frolic and it was sent to Europe. From 1875 to 1877, it cruised the waters off South America, before being decommissioned. It then became the civilian ship Frolic.
Always the Blockade-Runner. --Old B-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
