the next day, secretary of the navy gideon welles wired commodore cornelius stribling, the commandant of the philadelphia navy yard, orders for "augusta" "... to make a cruise to the fishing banks ..." css "florida" — commanded by cdr. john n. maffitt — had recently been terrorizing union shipping in the north atlantic, and "augusta" was sent out to join in the hunt for that confederate commerce raider. as soon as she had finished coaling, the union steamer put to sea and spent the rest of the month looking in vain for florida. his inquiries of vessels and at visited ports prompted parrott to conclude that the southern cruiser had left the northwestern atlantic more than a fortnight before. welles was also convinced that maffitt had sought warmer waters. as a result, soon after she arrived at the new york navy yard on the last day of july, "augusta" was decommissioned for the long overdue complete overhaul that had first been interrupted by css "alabama"s antics in the north atlantic some nine months before.