Victoria, built in 1858 at Elizabeth, Pa., served the Confederate forces faithfully as a transport in the Mississippi until 6 June 1862 when captured by Union forces under Commodore C. H. Davis after the battle of Memphis. Following capture she was used as a store-ship, wharf and inspection boat, with name changed to USS Abraham.
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(SwStr: t. 487; dph. 9'6"; dr. 8')
Victoria, a seagoing steamer built at Mystic, Conn., in 1859, is cited in official records as owned or managed by Southern S. S. Co. at the outbreak of war and was one of 14 of their New Orleans ships inspected by Comdr. W. W. Hunter for possible conversion to a gunboat. Although he judged Victoria, "one of the best for that purpose we have inspected," there is no evidence of her being so altered or armed for river defense.
Instead, Victoria put to sea as a Government-operated blockade runner under Captain Lambert and appears to have been successful in getting Texan cotton into Havana; she disappeared after the fall of 1862 but survived the war and was lost in 1866.
