History
United States
Name	USS Preston
In service	1865
Out of service	1865
Captured	by Union Navy forces February 1865
Fate	Sold, 17 September 1868
General characteristics
Type	Gunboat
Displacement	230 long tons (234 t)
Length	160 ft (49 m)
Beam	12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine

The USS Preston was a blockade-running steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

She was placed in service in Port Royal, South Carolina, by the Union Navy as a gunboat during blockade operations against the Confederate States of America.

Service history

Preston, a "cigar shaped steamer" used to transport cotton, was captured in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, in February 1865. Renamed Preston and operated under the command of Acting Ensign William Thomas, she was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and stationed at Port Royal, South Carolina, until August 1865. Then ordered north, she arrived at Washington, D.C., on 21 August and was placed in ordinary. She was sold at auction on 17 September 1868.

See also

• Blockade runners of the American Civil War
• Blockade mail of the Confederacy

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.