Shipwrecks of North Carolina

The following excerpts come from pages 1-14 of the National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District by Mark Wilde-Ramsing and Wilson Angley, 1985. Click the link to open the document to read more about all the wrecks in this district!

The Civil War came at a time in history when great technological changes were taking place in maritime construction. The two major innovations were the use of the steam engine both as a primary means of propulsion, and as a supplement to sail and the use of iron in hull construction. Great Britain was the major country involved in developing these new techniques though the United States, and the other European powers, were to a lesser extent also experimenting with and changing their ship designs. For many years British ship makers had experienced increasing difficulty in procuring an adequate supply of high quality timber with which to build ships, particularly oak. By the second decade of the nineteenth century iron manufacturing had developed to the point that it became economically and technologically feasible, in England, to use iron in the construction of ships.

Along with this trend was continued development of the steam engine and its use connected to a paddle wheel or screw to power ships. The first iron steamer was the "Aaron Manby" built in England in 1821. From that time on this was the trend in Great Britain and by 1860 there was no question in England that the new large iron screw steamers were more desirable than either American or British built wooden ones.

In the United States use of iron was not so widespread due primarily to its high cost and the still readily available supply of shipbuilding timber. Steam engines were in use, mainly on river boats and coastal ships, though of an inferior nature to the British built steam engines. Few attempts were made in America to construct large ocean going steamers, and those took place in the northeast.

The lack of marine facilities in the South forced the Confederacy to rely on the vessels which could be seized, or those which could be purchased abroad, in order to carry on vital foreign trade. The fleet of available vessels was quickly exhausted with most being pressed into naval service. England with its active shipbuilding industry and established transatlantic trade relations became the logical supplier of merchant vessels for southern trade.

The most vital element in blockade running was acquiring a vessel capable of successfully eluding the Union blockade of southern ports, which was begun in 1861. Sailing vessels carried the bulk of commerce early in the War. The 253 different sailing vessels known to have run the blockade off North and South Carolina dropped to 145 in 1862, 53 in 1863, and 14 in 1864. This reduction resulted from the realization that large sailing vessels were too slow to avoid the blockader's while the quicker schooner simply could not carry enough cargo. As Union strategists understood that steam vessels clearly would form the best blockade, the South arrived at a similar counter solution; steamships were needed to successfully run that blockade. Browning's figures support the increased use of blockade running steamers at Carolina ports: 21in 1861, 49 in 1862, 73 in 1863 and 98 in 1864.

During the Civil War at least thirty-one steam and twenty-two sail blockade-runners, as well as a wide assortment of Federal and Confederate military vessels were lost in the Cape Fear River area. With the exception of the USS Peterhoff, which was lost in a collision, all wrecks were stranded along the beach or on inlet shoals and sank in shallow waters (<30 feet). Upon wrecking, a vessel became the focus of furious attempts to save it and its cargo. The Federals had the decided advantage in efforts to recover the total vessel since they could approach from sea with tugboats. The Confederates concentrated on a wreck's cargo, which was not only more important to their specific need, but could be unloaded with ease onto the beaches which they controlled.

Rough weather and artillery fire from the enemy hampered salvage attempts by either side. In only a few cases was a whole vessel refloated, or the cargo of a wrecked vessel completely salvaged. In most cases, the Confederates would recover a small portion of the cargo before Union boarding parties would destroy both the vessel and cargo by setting it afire. Steam machinery was often rendered useless at the time of wrecking due to the removal of key parts by the vessel's crew.

The general area of the Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District is the same as those originally established by Union naval leaders for the Wilmington flotilla. Jurisdiction went as far south as Little River, at the North Carolina/South Carolina line, and to New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina. The current distribution of Civil War wrecks support the use of those same boundaries. Shipwrecks are densest in the vicinity of the Cape Fear River Inlets where the most intensive naval activities took place. As distance up and down the coast increases, wreck occurrence progressively becomes more sparse until it plays out at the historic boundaries. All wrecks lie close to shore and within the present state three mile limit.

Blockade-Runners Date Built Vessel Type Date Lost

Explore more about these wrecks in National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District!

The following excerpts come from pages 1-14 and 24 of Underwater Archaeological Sites in the Wilmington Historical District by Richard W. Lawrence, 1985. Click the link to open the document to read more about all the wrecks in this district!

The Cape Fear River, as it flows through Wilmington has an average width of 700 feet and is subject to a daily tidal variation of 4.2 feet. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently maintains a 32-foot-deep-by-400-foot-wide navigation channel in this part of the river. On the east, or Wilmington side of the river the shoreline has been almost entirely bulkheaded and the river bottom drops sharply away to the channel. From Market Street south the shoreline has changed little in the past fifty years and many of the numerous wharves that once served the Water Street warehouses and businesses are still present, some maintained and others in ruin. North of Market Street the shore has been extensively altered particularly by urban renewal efforts during the 1960s. Here, the former slips have been bulkheaded and filled, the wharves removed and the warehouses and industrial buildings torn down.

On the opposite side of the river from Wilmington, along Eagles Island, the shoreline is heavily vegetated and the land is quite low. The bottom on this side of the river is composed of a thick mud and the drop is very gradual from the shore to the channel. As a result more of the river bottom is exposed at low tide.

During the nineteenth century Eagles Island was the scene of a great deal of industrial activity including turpentine distilleries naval stores warehouses, and shipyards. Today, with the exception of the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial, there are no commercial enterprises or residences between the Cape Fear River Memorial Bridge and Point Peter. However, there is abundant physical evidence of the past activity. The remains of bulkheads and wharves can be seen along the water's edge and the shoreline is littered with rubble and debris. At the now inoperative R.F. Hamme and R.R. Stone Marine Railways some of the work shops and machinery houses still stand. Furthermore, this section of shoreline along Eagles Island is the resting place for dozens of derelict and abandoned vessels clearly visible at low tide. It was in an effort to document these vessels that the 1983 survey project was organized.

In June and July of 1983 the Underwater Archaeology Unit of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History spent two seeks documenting wrecked and abandoned vessels in the Cape Fear River adjacent to Wilmington, North Carolina. Although this section of the river is within the boundaries of the existing Wilmington National Register Historic District, no previous attempt had been made to inventory these vessel remains or other archaeological sites along the shoreline or beneath the water.

Of the 37 sites documented during the 1983 survey, 34 were found along the shoreline of Eagles Island. All of these sites are at least partially buried in the mud sediment and many can be seen only at low tide.

The sites located in 1983 are mostly vessels designed for river and harbor use. In order to facilitate comparison of the various sites the wrecks have been grouped into categories based on their type and function. The categories are: paddle wheel steamboats, tugboats, launches, skiffs, ferries, miscellaneous vessels, and barges. Each is preceded by a brief description of that type of vessel.

Category 1 – Paddle Wheel Steamboats

Three paddle wheel steamboats were located in the survey area. This type of vessel has a long and interesting history on the Cape Fear River. The first steamboat to come to Wilmington was the Prometheus, a stern-wheeler built by Otway Burns in Beaufort, North Carolina in 1818. The last documented paddle wheel steamboat used on the river was the Thelma which operated until 1939. In the period between these dates, particularly during the last half of the nineteenth century, the paddle wheel steamboat was the main means for transporting goods and passengers up and down the Cape Fear River and its major tributaries, the Black River and the Northeast Cape Fear River. Steamboat service also extended up some of the smaller tributaries such as Town Creek, Smith's Creek, Long Creek and Moores Creek. Because of the narrow and crooked nature of these rivers and creeks, stern-wheel boats were more prevalent than side-wheelers as they had narrower beams. The typical Cape Fear River steamboat carried cargo in the hold and on the deck and had cabins and a galley for passengers above the main deck. Often the steamer would tow one or more barges located with cargo.

Category 2 - Tugboats

Tugboats served several functions on the river. They were used to assist sailing ships and large powered ships up and down the Cape Fear River from Wilmington to the ocean. They were also used to tow and push barges both up and down the river above Wilmington and to other ports along the coast.

Most of the tugboats documented during the survey are located in the vicinity of the Stone Marine Railway on Eagles Island. According to Messrs. Russel and Harris Stone, current owners of the Stone Towing Company, these boats were abandoned during the 1930s and 1940s due to the economic factors of the depression and a general trend toward larger diesel powered tugboats as size of ships coming up the river increased.

Category 3 – Launches

The term launch is used here to mean a large, open motorboat. These boats could serve a variety of functions including fishing, carrying cargo or passengers, or towing barges.

Category 4 - Skiffs

Two small boats, less than 20 feet in length, were located during the survey. These flat bottomed boats were probably powered by oars and were most likely locally made during the early twentieth century.

Category 5 – Ferries

Ferries have been in operation across the Cape Fear River from the foot of Market Street to Eagles Island since the early eighteenth century. Until the twentieth century the ferry was a barge type vessel propelled by oars. In the early 1900s a gasoline motor launch was used to pull the barge across the river. Finally in 1919 a diesel powered ferryboat, the John Knox, was put in service.

Category 6 – Miscellaneous Vessels

These sites include wrecks that were either too deteriorated or too deeply buried in the mud to identify the vessel type or use. Also included in this category are a floating dry dock and marine railway, and a relatively modern steel hull vessel tentatively identified as the Blanchard.

Category 7 – Barges

A total of 14 wooden barges were located during the survey. These sites exhibit a remarkable variety of designs and construction techniques. Several of the barges were built to perform specific functions such as the hopper barges and those containing steam crane machinery. It must be assumed that most of the rest were used to carry various types of cargo.

Although barges have always been prevalent and performed a vital role in the harbor and on the river it is extremely difficult to document the history of an individual barge. However, based on the condition of the barge sites relative to the condition of other identified vessels in the survey area, it is likely that most of these barges were constructed during the period 1875 to 1925.

Wilmington Survey Wreck Inventory

Explore more about these wrecks in Underwater Archaeological Sites in the Wilmington Historical District!