 The ship briefly operated between Glasgow and other ports in Scotland for Hutcheson '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 Bullock and the other passengers would not attempt to board until they rendezvoused with the ship at Holyhead , Wales . On the night 14 / 15 October , as she was slowly rounding the breakwater at Holyhead , Fingal rammed and sank the Austrian brig Siccardi , 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 lest 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 blockaders . 
