UNITED STATES CONSULATE, LIVERPOOL, 18TH OCTOBER, 1864. SIR, THE ENGLISH SCREW STEAMER "SEA KING", BUILT AT GLASGOW IN 1863, CLEARED FOR BOMBAY, AND SAILED FROM LONDON ON THE EIGHTH INSTANT... MR. SISCO, UNITED STATES CONSULAR AGENT AT DOVER, SAYS HE HAS RELIABLE INFORMATION THAT CAPTAIN SEMMES IS TO HAVE THIS VESSEL... I HAVE NOT THE LEAST DOUBT SHE IS THE VESSEL THE STEAMER "LAUREL" IS TO MEET, AND THAT CAPTAIN SEMMES, WITH THE OFFICERS, MEN AND GUNS, TAKEN OUT IN THE "LAUREL," WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO HER. THEIR PLACE OF MEETING IS NOT KNOWN TO ME. THE "SEA KING" IS A VERY FAST, STRONG BUILT, AND FINE LOOKING SCREW STEAMER, BUILT OF WOOD WITH IRON FRAME, AND COPPERED, ABOUT ONE THOUSAND TONS BURTHEN, AND TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO FEET LONG, ONE FUNNEL, THREE BRIGHT MASTS, SHIP RIGGED, WITH WIRE RIGGING, HEAVILY SPARRED; MACHINERY ABAFT THE MAIN-MAST. NO DOUBT HER NAME WILL BE CHANGED. I AM SIR, VERY RESPECTFULLY, YOUR OBEDIENT SERVANT, THOMAS H. DUDLEY, CONSUL.
Liverpool: 1864. Pale blue folio printed sheet, folded to 8-1/4" x 10-1/2". [1], [3 blanks] pp. Signed in type at the end. Old horizontal folds, some discoloration at blank lower corner and along edge of first page. Very Good. The Civil War launched Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes's "brilliant career as..... More
