The 860 ton, 200 foot ship had been built for the Royal Navy as H.M.S. Victor. The British soon found her unreliable and ordered her sold. Confederate Captain Mathew Maury purchased her and, when he suspected the British had discovered its intended purpose as a raider, sailed at midnight from Sheerness. True to its reputation, the newly christened Rappahannock broke down immediately and was detained in Calais till the end of the war. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Spencer C. Tucker, "CSS Rappahannock," in Spencer C. Tucker, William E. White (eds), The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 211), I: 564-565.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Battles/Soldiers
