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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo #  NH 61575:  Blockade runner Ella and Annie.  Artwork by R.G. Skerrett


Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

Ella and Annie (Blockade Running Steamship, 1860);
Originally SS William G. Hewes and CSS William G. Hewes; later USS Malvern (1863-1865) and SS William G. Hewes

William G. Hewes, a 747-ton iron side-wheel steamship, was built at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1860 for commerical service between the U.S. East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. She made her maiden voyage early in 1861, as north-south tensions were expanding toward civil war. The steamer was seized by the State of Louisiana in late April 1861, initially with the idea of converting her into a gunboat, but instead became a blockade runner operating out of New Orleans. She was moved to Carolina ports after Federal Forces captured the lower Mississippi River in April 1862.

Sometime thereafter, William G. Hewes was transferred to private ownership and renamed Ella and Annie. She continued to run the Federal blockade on behalf of the Confederacy until 9 November 1863, when USS Niphon captured her off New Inlet, North Carolina, during an attempt to enter the port of Wilmington. Ella and Annie was subsequently purchased by the U.S. Navy and commissioned as USS Malvern. Sold at auction in October 1865, she reentered civil employment under her original name. Following a long and varied career, the steamship William G. Hewes was wrecked off Cuba on 20 February 1895.

This page features our only view of the Confederate blockade runner Ella and Annie, which was originally named William G. Hewes.

For pictures related to this ship while she was in U.S. Navy service, see:

  • USS Malvern (1863-1865).

    For pictorial coverage on Ella and Annie's Master at the time of her capture, see:

  • Acting Master Francis N. Bonneau, Confederate States Navy.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 61575

    Ella and Annie

    (Confederate Blockade Runner)

    Artwork by R.G. Skerrett, 1900.
    Built as the steamship William G. Hewes in 1860, Ella and Annie was captured off New Inlet, North Carolina, in November 1863. She later became USS Malvern.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 515 pixels

     

    For pictures related to this ship while she was in U.S. Navy service, see:

  • USS Malvern (1863-1865).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 7 July 2002
    Link added 9 November 2003