Civil War
Although Adirondack was originally slated for duty in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, events in the Bahamas changed her fate. Before she sailed for the Gulf of Mexico, news reached Washington, D.C. that the British-built screw steamer Oreto — later known as the CSS Florida — had arrived at the island of New Providence and, although constructed under the pretext of being a merchantman destined for service under the Italian Government, was in reality a cruiser which was then being fitted out as a Confederate commerce raider. Thus, on 11 July, Secretary of the Navy (SecNav) Gideon Welles ordered Gansevoort to proceed in Adirondack to the West Indies to investigate the report.
Read more about this topic: USS Adirondack (1862)
Famous quotes containing the words civil and/or war:
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