The celebrated former alleged blockade runner Peterhoff, now purchased and commissioned into the United States Navy, was patrolling off Wilminigton, North Carolina when the U.S.S. Monticello mistook her for an active Confederate vessel and engaged her. Discovering her mistake too late, she rammed the Peterhoff, which sank in fifteen minutes. This gave time for all hands to be saved and no casualties resulted. (By John Osborne)