Giraffe (1860)

Later names
Robert E. Lee (1862)
USS Fort Donelson (1864)
Isabella (1865)
Concepción (1866)

Builder:
J & G Thompson
Govan, Scotland
Keel Laid:
N/A
Launched:
May 16, 1860
Year Built:
1860
Completed:
N/A
Fate:
Sold May 1, 1868, fate unknown.


Owner
G & J Burns
Glasgow, Scotland

1862:
Alexander Collie & Co.
Manchester, England

1862:
Confederate States of America
Jan. 1864:
US Navy
Oct. 1865:
Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna
Valparaiso, Chile

Aug. 1866:
Chilean Navy


Dimensions, machinery and performance

Length:
283'
Engines:
N/A
Beam:
25'
Hull:
Iron
Across wheels:
N/A
HP:
N/A
Wheel diameter
N/A
Speed:
13.5 knots
Draft:
10'
Funnels:
2
Gross tons:
677
900 (displacement)
Masts:
2
Crew:
N/A
Passengers:
N/A


Captains
From
To
Name
1862
May 1863:
Lt. John Wilkinson CSN
May 1863
Nov. 9, 1863:
Lt. Richard H. Gayle CSN
June 29, 1864:
Unknown:
Lt. Thomas Pickering USNR
Sept. 3, 1866:
Unknonw:
Cmdr. José Galvarino Riveros Cárdenas


History
1862:
Bought by Alexander Collie & Co. Manchester, England (Edward Pembroke, London) and
converted into a blockade runner for the Confederate States of America.

Jan. 1863:
First voyage as blockade runner.
Nov. 9, 1863:
Captured by USS James Adger off Beaufort, North Carolina.
Jan. 1864:
Bought by the US Navy at Boston for $73,000.
Feb. 27, 1864:
Renamed Fort Donelson
June 29, 1864:
Commissioned into US Navy as USS Fort Donelson.
Aug. 1864 -
Jan. 1865:

Assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Jan. 1865:
Bombarded and landed ammunition supplies at Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
April 1865:
Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
June 1865:
Assigned to the West Gulf Squadron but was in poor condition and returned to Norfolk, Va.
Aug. 17, 1865:
Decommissioned.
Oct. 1865:
Sold to Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, Valparaiso, Chile and renamed Isabella.
Aug. 1866:
Sold to Chile for $85,000 and renamed Concepción.
Sept. 3, 1866:
Commissioned into the Chilean Navy.
May 1, 1868:
Sold to unknown buyer, fate unknown.


Notes
As Robert E. Lee ran the US Navy blockade 21 times.


Builder's Data
Page created Jan. 29, 2007