What was unique about the ship Star of the West?

Answer 1

The STAR OF THE WEST was a Confederate ship that was an unarmed civilian ship. It was a civilian ship in service to the Union when it was captured by Confederate cavalry while in dock at Galveston, TX. The Confederates used it as a tender for iron clad ships at the Yazoo River base. When Grant sent a river boat expedition down the Tallahatchie River to attack Vicksburg from the East, the Confederates built Fort Pemberton at Greenwood, MS to stop them. The STAR OF THE WEST was deliberately sunk in the river to block the Union river boats. The Confederates were successful in stopping the attack. The unique bit of its history is that this ship was hired by the US Government to send supplies and reinforcements to Fort Sumter, in the Charleston SC harbor. When it entered the harbor, cadets from the Citadel fired upon it from Fort Monroe, damaging its rudder. The STAR OF THE WEST returned to New York. This incident occurred on 9 January 1861---3 months before the start of the Civil War. [BTW the entry in Wikipedia is NOT correct for this ship.]