In the bustling shipyards of Blackwall, London, a vessel destined for adventure took shape under the skilled hands of the Samuda Brothers. Launched on August 20, 1853, into the waters of the River Thames, the iron sidewheel paddle steamer Estrella emerged as a marvel of engineering for the newly established Magdalena Steam Navigation Company. Designed with a shallow draft of just 5 feet, she was tailor-made for river and coastal voyages. Stretching 176 feet long with a 26-foot beam, Estrella boasted a gross tonnage of 576 tons-later recorded at 438 tons displacement during her U.S. Navy service. With room for 60 to 90 passengers, she was powered by a 120-horsepower, two-cylinder oscillating steam engine crafted by Humphrys, Tennant, and Dykes at their New Deptford Engine Works. On October 27, official trials clocked her at an impressive 12 miles per hour.
Accompanying Estrella were two smaller vessels, Anita and Isabel, built and engined by the same team for passenger service along Colombia’s Magdalena River, then part of the Republic of New Granada. On November 20, 1853, Estrella and Anita set sail from the Thames, arriving at Savanilla-he key seaport at the Magdalena’s mouth-on January 17 and 24, 1854, respectively. Their timing, however, was ill-fated. A revolution in Bogotá had dampened demand for river transport, but Estrella pressed on, completing a lucrative trip from Santa Marta to Mompox and Magangué. In August 1855, she was chartered by General Mosquera to ferry munitions upriver, only to strike a rock and sink near Quibdó en route to Honda. Though her crew and passengers were saved, Lloyd’s of London listed her as lost. Remarkably, she was salvaged and repaired by May 1856.
The Magdalena Steam Navigation Company, however, found the venture unprofitable. Deciding to dissolve operations, they planned to return their British-flagged trio-Estrella, Anita, and Isabel-to England for sale after a failed local auction in Barranquilla in September 1856. Disaster struck on December 23, just two hours into the return journey, when Anita sprang a leak in a fierce gale. Three hours later, her boiler exploded, sinking her in deep water and claiming half her 24-man crew. Estrella, battered by the storm, couldn’t assist and limped back to Santa Marta. A survey revealed her deck was warped-likely from her earlier sinking and frequent groundings-deeming her unseaworthy, with worthless boats to boot. Surveyors advised she remain coastal until May 1857, with extra engineers aboard for safety.
By December 1861, Estrella lingered in New Granada, briefly sheltering Santa Marta residents during the Colombian Civil War. In 1862, the New York firm McLean and Lince bought her in Savanilla, and she reached New York on May 28 after a nine-day voyage, despite damaging her starboard paddle wheel on a submerged wreck off Kingston, Jamaica. Registered as an American vessel, she was chartered to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department from July 7, 1862, at $400 per day, before transitioning to the U.S. Navy later that year. Commissioned by October under Lt. Cmdr. A.P. Cooke, Estrella was armed with three heavy guns and two howitzers, transforming her into a formidable blockade runner interceptor and shore bombardier.
Assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Estrella served off Mobile, New Orleans, and the Texas coast throughout the Civil War. In November 1862, she clashed with the CSS J.A. Cotton and Confederate shore batteries along the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Teche, with Cooke leading the Union flotilla in Berwick Bay. On April 14, 1863, she spearheaded an assault that torched the CSS Queen of the West, which exploded four days later after 90 crew were rescued. Days later, Cooke’s flotilla captured Confederate batteries at Butte-à-la-Rose, Louisiana, seizing 60 men and vital supplies-a key Union victory. Estrella continued her campaign, aiding assaults on Fort DeRussy and Port Hudson in 1863, the latter surrendering on July 9. Her fallen sailors found eternal rest at Chalmette National Cemetery, a site of pilgrimage for grieving families.
In 1864, Estrella captured the schooner Julia A. Hodges in Matagorda Bay and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Mobile Bay, targeting Fort Powell. After repairs in New Orleans in early 1865, she became the squadron’s flagship until June 1867, when she sailed to the New York Navy Yard. Decommissioned on July 16 and sold on October 9, 1867, Estrella was soon repurchased by Henry W. Seccomb’s Intrepid Company in 1868. That year, she was condemned in Kingston, Jamaica, but resurfaced under Lamb and Company of St. Thomas. On December 21, 1868, while steaming from St. Thomas to Curaçao, she wrecked in the Los Roques archipelago. Her passengers and crew endured five days on a deserted island before rescue by a Venezuelan warship. Salvaged and re-registered as the British Twinkling Star in Kingston on October 4, 1869, she measured 492 tons with updated dimensions.
Her saga continued. On November 27, 1870, en route from Cap-Haïtien to Port-au-Prince, Twinkling Star sprang a leak, prompting five passengers-including the U.S. Consul in Jamaica-to flee in a lifeboat to Haiti. She reached port, but a voyage to New Orleans days later saw her battered by storms, forcing a stop at Savanna-la-Mar with a damaged boiler and hull. Grounded and condemned after a survey, she lingered until sinking in shallow water on May 2, 1873-ending a storied career marked by resilience and relentless service.
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