CSS ''Tacony'' was originally a

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, en ...

captured by the Confederate cruiser CSS ''Clarence'' during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

and converted into a Confederate cruiser for

commerce raiding Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than eng ...

. The CSS ''Clarence'', commanded by Lt. Charles W. Read, captured the ''Tacony'' on June 12, 1863, and since it was a better ship suited for

, the crew and armaments were transferred to it and the ''Clarence'' was destroyed. In its brief career as a Confederate cruiser, it captured several ships: The ''Whistling Ada'', ''Arabella'', ''Byzantium'', ''Elizabeth Ann'', ''Florence'', ''Goodspeed'', ''Isaac Webb'', ''Z.A. Macomber'', ''Marengo'', ''Ripple'', ''Rufus Choate'', ''Shattemuc'', ''Umpire,'' and ''Wanderer''. Its final capture was the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

''Archer'' on June 25, 1863, which is a better ship suited for

, the crew and armaments were transferred to it and the ''Tacony'' was destroyed.

Officers and crew

* Lt. Charles W. Read, commander. * Billups, Matthewson, and Pride, master's mates. * Brown, engineer. * 16 men.

Notes and references

* Tacony Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Maritime incidents in June 1863 {{AmericanCivilWar-stub