 The ship briefly operated between Glasgow and other ports in Scotland for <unk> 's West Highland Service before she was purchased in September 1861 by James D. Bulloch , the primary foreign agent in Great Britain for the Confederacy , to deliver the military and naval ordnance and supplies that he had purchased . To disguise his control of Fingal , and the destination of her cargo , Bulloch hired an English crew and captain and put out his destination as Bermuda and Nassau in the Bahamas . The cargo was loaded in Greenock in early October , although <unk> and the other passengers would not attempt to board until they rendezvoused with the ship at <unk> , Wales . On the night 14 / 15 October , as she was slowly rounding the <unk> at <unk> , Fingal rammed and sank the Austrian brig <unk> , slowly swinging at anchor without lights . Bulloch and the passengers embarked in the steamer while Bulloch dispatched a letter to his financial agents instructing them to settle damages with the brig 's owners because he could not afford to take the time to deal with the affair <unk> he and Fingal be detained . The ship reached Bermuda on 2 November and , after leaving port on 7 November , Bulloch informed the crew that the steamer 's real destination was Savannah , Georgia ; he offered to take anyone who objected to the plan to Nassau . However , all of the crew agreed to join in the effort to run the Union blockade . Fingal was able slip safely into the Savannah estuary in a heavy fog on the night of 12 November without sighting any <unk> . 
