Courier

Courier

A messenger or traveling attendant.

(Ship: t. 556; 1. 135'; b. 30'; dph. 15'; cpl. 82; a. 2 32
pdr. )

Courier, a storeship, was purchased 7 September 1861 from W. B. Thomas and Co., N.Y., and commissioned 17 September 1861, Acting Master W. K. Cressy in command.

Courier sailed from New York 17 October 1861 on the first of many voyages to bring supplies to ships at Port Royal, S.C., along the Florida coast, and in the Gulf of Mexico as far west as New Orleans. Always on the alert for blockade runners, she captured three Angelina and Emeline on 16 May 1863, and Maria Bishop on 17 May 1863.

Courier grounded on Abaco Island in the Bahamas 14 June 1864 and had to be abandoned, but her officers and men, together with her stores and cargo, were saved and sent to the United States.