On 15 March 1863, a schooner, called , had been seized in the harbor of San Francisco, just as she was preparing to put to sea as a Confederate privateer. This seizure made the Union men everywhere along the coast more alert for other attempts to get a vessel for this purpose. Among its papers was one letter disclosing plans for the capture of USS "Shubrick" but the scheme appeared to have been abandoned. However early in 1863, Allen Francis, United States consul at Victoria, received information that led him to believe a plot was forming, to seize "Shubrick", and convert her into a Confederate privateer.