Preston I (ScStr)
1865
(ScStr: tonnage 428; length 170'; beam 23'1"; depth of hold 13'4")
The twin screw British blockade runner Annie, carrying a cargo of turpentine, tobacco, and cotton, was captured off New Inlet, N. C., by Wilderness and Niphon on 31 October 1864, was purchased by the Navy from the New York Prize Court in December 1864. Renamed Preston on 2 February 1865, the vessel was commissioned on 6 February 1865, Acting Volunteer Lt. J. R. Wheeler in command.
Assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Preston departed New York on 16 February 1865 and reached New Orleans, La., on 9 March. After operating along the coast of Texas, she was ordered to Philadelphia, Pa., where she was decommissioned on 8 August 1865. Sent to New York in November, she was sold at auction on 30 November 1865.
Robert J. Cressman (history); S. Matthew Cheser (biography)
14 February 1865