Editing Blockade runner (section)

=== American Civil War ===
{{Main article|Blockade runners of the American Civil War}}
[[File:St. George's Harbour circa 1864.jpg|thumb|right|A Confederate blockade runner at anchor at [[St. George's, Bermuda|St. George's]], [[Bermuda]]]]

During the [[American Civil War]], blockade running became a major enterprise for the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] due to the [[Union blockade]] as part of the [[Anaconda Plan]] to cut off the Confederacy's overseas trade.  Twelve major ports and approximately 3,500 miles of coastline along the Confederacy were patrolled by roughly 500 [[Union Navy]] ships.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] played a major role in Confederate blockade running. British merchants had conducted significant amounts of trade with the South prior to the war, and were suffering from the [[Lancashire Cotton Famine]]. The [[British Empire]] also controlled many of the neutral ports in the Caribbean, most notably [[the Bahamas]] and [[Bermuda]]. In concert with Confederate interests, British investors ordered the construction of steamships that were longer, narrower and considerably faster than most of the conventional steamers guarding the American coastline, thus enabling them to outmaneuver and outrun blockaders. Among the more notable was the [[USS Advance (1862)|CSS Advance]] that completed more than 20 successful runs through the Union blockade before being captured.<ref>[[#Wyllie3|Wyllie, 2007]] p.22</ref> 

These vessels brought badly needed supplies, especially firearms, and [[Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States#Blockade runners|Confederate mail]]. The blockade played a major role in the Union's victory over the Confederate states, though historians have estimated the supplies brought by blockade runners to the Confederacy lengthened the duration of the war by up to two years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/historians-reveal-secrets-of-uk-gunrunning-which-lengthened-the-american-civil-war-by-two-years-9557937.html|title=Historians reveal secrets of UK gun-running which lengthened the American civil war by two years|author=David Keys|date=24 June 2014|work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Confederate Blockade Runners|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1933/april/confederate-blockade-runners|author=Paul Hendren|date=April 1933|publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]]}}</ref> By the end of the American Civil War, Union warships had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355.<ref>[[#Scharf|Scharf, 1894]] pp.479-480</ref><ref name="Confederate blockade mail">{{cite web |url=http://www.rfrajola.com/blockade/blockade.htm |title=Confederate blockade mail |publisher=Richard Frajola, philatelist and historian |access-date=17 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715182220/http://www.rfrajola.com/blockade/blockade.htm |archive-date=15 July 2011}}</ref>