The <a about="#mwt51" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"USS","href":"./Template:USS"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"Planter"},"2":{"wt":"1862"},"3":{"wt":"6"}},"i":0}}]}' href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Planter_(1862)" id="mwdA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="USS Planter (1862)" typeof="mw:Transclusion">USS<span typeof="mw:Entity"> </span><i>Planter</i></a>, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines and is passed to the Union, by a southern slave, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smalls" id="mwdQ" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Robert Smalls">Robert Smalls</a>, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship.