u/CrystalEise

May 13, 1862 – US Civil War: Confederate steamer Planter, with her captain ashore in Charleston, was taken out of the harbor by Robert Smalls, a southern slave, and turned over to U.S.S. Onward, Acting Lieutenant Nickels, of the blockading Union squadron...

Later Robert Smalls was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thrilling-tale-how-robert-smalls-heroically-sailed-stolen-confederate-ship-freedom-180963689

u/CrystalEise — 4 hours ago