USS Estrella

USS Estrella (1862–1867) Painting depicting Estrella off the Pensacola Navy Yard, Florida, c. 1866–1867.
History
United Kingdom
Name	Estrella
Owner	Magdalena Steam Navigation Company, London
Builder	Samuda Brothers, Blackwall, London
Launched	20 August 1853
Completed	October 1853
Fate	Sold 1862
United States
Name	USS Estrella
Acquired	1862
Commissioned	c. October 1862
Decommissioned	16 July 1867 at the New York Navy Yard
Fate	Sold, 9 October 1867
United States, United Kingdom
Name	Estrella (1867–1869) Twinkling Star (1869–1873)
Port of registry	New York, United States (1867–1869?) Kingston, Jamaica (1869–1873)
Out of service	1870
Fate	Sank in Savanna-la-Mar port, 21 May 1873
General characteristics
Type	iron steamship
Tonnage	576 GRT
Displacement	438 tons
Length	176 ft (54 m)
Beam	26 ft (8 m)
Draught	5 ft (2 m)
Propulsion	two-cylinder oscillating steam engine side wheels
Armament	(in Union Navy service) 1 × 30-pounder rifled gun 2 × 32-pounder guns 2 × 24-pounder howitzers

Estrella was a paddle steamship built by Samuda Brothers in London in 1853 for the Magdalena Steam Navigation Company's commercial services in present-day Colombia. In 1862 she was sold to United States owners and briefly used as a Union Army transport before being acquired by the Union Navy. She served as the armed steamship USS Estrella during the remainder of the American Civil War, carrying three heavy guns as well as two howitzers for shore bombardment.

Returning to commercial service in 1867, Estrella operated under the American flag and, later, as the British-flag Twinkling Star on services within the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico area. She was seriously damaged in 1870 in Jamaica and later sank in port.