List of shipwrecks in December 1864

The list of shipwrecks in December 1864 includes all ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during December 1864.

1 December

List of shipwrecks: 1 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Nymph	United States	The 35-ton sternwheel paddle steamer was stranded on the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky.[1]

3 December

List of shipwrecks: 3 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Eliza	Unknown	The wooden barge sank in the Sacramento River off Washington, California, after colliding with Governor Dana (flag unknown).[2]
Ella	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The 634-gross ton sidewheel paddle steamer, a blockade runner with a cargo of Holland gin, munitions, and rifle muskets, was forced aground near the lighthouse at Bald Head Point off Fort Holmes on the coast of North Carolina near the mouth of the Cape Fear River southeast of Cape Fear by the armed screw steamer USS Emma and gunboat USS Pequot (both  United States Navy). Six ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron ( United States Navy) and Confederate artillery shelled Ella for two days, hitting her at least 40 times, before a U.S. Navy boat party boarded and burned her on 5 December.[3][4][5]

4 December

List of shipwrecks: 4 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Edward	United States	American Civil War: The 274-ton whaler, a bark, was captured and burned in the South Atlantic Ocean off Tristan da Cunha by the merchant raider CSS Shenandoah ( Confederate States Navy).[3][4][6]

5 December

List of shipwrecks: 5 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Lizzie Freeman	United States	American Civil War: While at anchor, the tug was captured and destroyed on the James River off Pagan Creek near Smithfield, Virginia, by a Confederate States Navy boarding party.[7][8]
Unidentified schooner	United States	American Civil War: Carrying a cargo of sutler′s goods, the schooner was captured and burned on the James River off Pagan Creek near Smithfield, Virginia, by a Confederate States Navy boarding party.[9]

6 December

List of shipwrecks: 6 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Alabama	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The schooner, a blockade runner, was forced aground on the coast of Texas near San Luis Pass by the cruiser USS Princess Royal ( United States Navy). A boarding party from Princess Royal captured and refloated her.[7]

7 December

List of shipwrecks: 7 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
USS Narcissus	United States Navy	American Civil War, Union blockade: The screw steamer struck a Confederate mine in Mobile Bay off Mobile, Alabama, during a heavy storm and sank without loss of life. She was raised, repaired, and returned to service.
Stormy Petrel	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: Trying to a run the Union blockade and reach Wilmington, North Carolina, with a cargo that included arms and ammunition, the 220-register ton sidewheel paddle steamer was forced aground on the coast of North Carolina off New Inlet and Smith Island a mile (1.6 km) below Fort Fisher by the gunboat USS Kansas ( United States Navy). Under fire by gunboats of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron ( United States Navy), she was holed by the fluke of a submerged anchor. She finally was destroyed by a gale a few days later.[10][7]

8 December

List of shipwrecks: 8 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Mary Ann	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The sloop, a blockade runner with a cargo of cotton, was forced aground and destroyed by the gunboat USS Itasca ( United States Navy) on the coast of Texas at Pass Cavallo.[7][11]

9 December

List of shipwrecks: 9 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
USS Bazely	United States Navy	Harper's Weekly illustration from 21 January 1865 of USS Bazely striking the mine. American Civil War: The tug sank instantly with the loss of two lives after striking a Confederate mine in the Roanoke River near Jamesville, North Carolina, while coming to the aid of the gunboat USS Otsego ( United States Navy). Her wreck was destroyed on 25 December to prevent its capture by Confederate forces.[7][12]
Ben South	United States	American Civil War: The 176-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was burned on the Cumberland River at Cumberland City, Tennessee, by troops of Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon′s brigade ( Confederate States Army).[13]
Echo	United States	American Civil War: The 100-ton steam towboat was burned on the Cumberland River at Cumberland City, Tennessee, by troops of Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon′s brigade ( Confederate States Army).[14]
USS Otsego	United States Navy	American Civil War: The gunboat sank after striking two Confederate mines in the Roanoke River near Jamesville, North Carolina. Her wreck was blown up on 9 or 25 December (sources disagree) to prevent its capture by Confederate forces.[7][15]
Robert B. Howlett	United States	The 120- or 246-ton schooner was wrecked on Charleston Bar or North Bar off the coast of South Carolina during a hurricane.[16]
Thomas E. Tutt	United States	American Civil War: Carrying Union Army troops and a cargo of oats, the 351-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was captured and burned on the Cumberland River at Cumberland City, Tennessee, by troops of Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon′s brigade ( Confederate States Army).[17]
Two unidentified barges	United States	American Civil War: The barges were captured and burned on the Cumberland River at Cumberland City, Tennessee, by troops of Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon′s brigade ( Confederate States Army).[18]
Unidentified steamer	United States	American Civil War: The steamer was captured and burned on the Cumberland River at Cumberland City, Tennessee, by troops of Brigadier General Hylan B. Lyon′s brigade ( Confederate States Army).[19]

10 December

List of shipwrecks: 10 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Ida	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The 77-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was captured and burned by a detachment of the 150th New York Infantry Regiment ( Union Army) near Argyle Island, Georgia.[20][21]
USS Picket Boat No. 5	United States Navy	The torpedo boat sank in the James River opposite Jamestown, Virginia. She was raised, repaired, and returned to service.[22]

12 December

List of shipwrecks: 12 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Resolute	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: Under heavy fire by the 1st New York Artillery Regiment ( Union Army) on the Savannah River in Georgia, the armed tug was disabled in a collision with the gunboat CSS Macon ( Confederate States Navy) and ran aground on Argyle Island, where she was captured and burned later in the day by a detachment of the 3rd Wisconsin Veteran Infantry Regiment ( Union Army).[23]

13 December

List of shipwrecks: 13 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified vessels	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The armed screw steamer USS Daylight ( United States Navy) destroyed a large flat-bottomed boat and a skiff in the James River area of Virginia.[24]

14 December

List of shipwrecks: 14 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
HMS Bombay	Royal Navy	The screw ship-of-the-line was destroyed by fire while conducting target practice in the River Plate near Isla de Flores off Uruguay, killing 86 of her crew of 616.

15 December

List of shipwrecks: 15 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified vessels	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: A boat expedition from the armed sidewheel paddle steamer USS Coeur de Lion and the warship USS Mercury (both  United States Navy) burned two scows and 31 boats on the Coan River in Virginia.[24]

16 December

List of shipwrecks: 16 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
G. O. Bigelow	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The schooner, in ballast, was captured and burned by the screw steamer USS Mount Vernon ( United States Navy) at Bear Inlet, North Carolina.[7]

19 December

List of shipwrecks: 19 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Water Witch	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War, Union blockade: The sidewheel gunboat was burned at White Bluff, Georgia, to prevent her capture by Union forces.

21 December

List of shipwrecks: 21 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Firefly	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The armed tender, a sidewheel paddle steamer, was burned at Savannah, Georgia, to prevent her capture by Union forces.[25]
CSS Georgia	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The ironclad warship, serving as a floating battery, was scuttled at Savannah, Georgia, at 32°5′5″N 81°2′9″W / 32.08472°N 81.03583°W / 32.08472; -81.03583 (CSS Georgia (battery)) to prevent her capture by Union forces.
CSS Isondiga	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The gunboat was destroyed at Savannah, Georgia, to prevent her capture by Union forces.
CSS Milledgeville	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The incomplete ironclad was burned to the waterline and scuttled at Savannah, Georgia, to prevent her capture by Union forces.[26]
CSS Savannah	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The casemate ironclad was burned at Savannah, Georgia, to prevent her capture by Union forces.
Swan	Confederate States of America	American Civil War: The 316-ton screw steamer was burned and sunk at Savannah, Georgia, to prevent her capture by Union forces. She was raised in July 1865, refitted, and returned to service.[27]

22 December

List of shipwrecks: 22 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Mary and Elizabeth	New Zealand	The ketch was wrecked at the mouth of the Saltwater Creek, North Canterbury, New Zealand, when she caught the south spit of Saltwater Creek/Ashley River estuary. She was carrying timber from Lyttelton Harbour.[28]

24 December

List of shipwrecks: 24 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Arctic	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The floating battery was scuttled as a blockship in the Cape Fear River off Fort Fisher, North Carolina.[29]
USS Louisiana	United States Navy	American Civil War: The screw steamer, packed with gunpowder, was deliberately blown up near Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in an attempt to reduce the fort. The clock mechanism intended to detonate the gunpowder failed, but a fire deliberately started aboard the ship detonated it instead. The explosion had no appreciable effect on the fort.

27 December

List of shipwrecks: 27 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Agnes E. Fry	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: The 350-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was forced ashore on the coast of North Carolina about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Fort Campbell and about 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Fort Caswell by the armed screw steamer USS Monticello ( United States Navy) and was wrecked.[30]
Unidentified schooner	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The schooner was burned after she was forced aground at Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, by the armed screw steamer USS Monticello ( United States Navy).[31]

28 December

List of shipwrecks: 28 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified sloop	Unknown	American Civil War, Union blockade: The sloop was forced ashore and destroyed by the gunboat USS Kanawha ( United States Navy) on the coast of Texas near Caney Creek.[7][32]

29 December

List of shipwrecks: 29 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Delphine	United States	American Civil War: The 750-ton bark, proceeding in ballast from London, England, to Akyab in British Burma, was captured and burned in the South Pacific Ocean by the merchant raider CSS Shenandoah ( Confederate States Navy).[3][4][33]
Talisman	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: The 266-gross ton sidewheel paddle steamer, a blockade runner, sank in a storm in the Atlantic Ocean.[34]

30 December

List of shipwrecks: 30 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
USS Annie	United States Navy	American Civil War, Union blockade: The schooner departed Key West, Florida, to resume blockade duties in the Gulf of Mexico along Florida's west coast off Charlotte Harbor, but was not heard from again. On 5 February 1865, the screw steamer USS Hendrick Hudson ( United States Navy) found her wreck submerged in 36 feet (11 meters) of water south of Cape Romano, Florida, apparently the victim of an explosion. No sign of her crew was found.[8]
USS Rattler	United States Navy	American Civil War: During a heavy gale, the paddle steamer parted her mooring cables on the Mississippi River near Grand Gulf, Mississippi, ran ashore, struck a snag and sank. She was stripped and abandoned, and Confederate forces later burned her wreck.[7]

31 December

List of shipwrecks: 31 December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Venango	United States	American Civil War: The 120-ton sternwheel paddle steamer was burned at Pilcher's Point in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana.[35]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date December 1864

Ship	Country	Description
Caroline Reed	Unknown	The vessel was lost in the Pacific Ocean off the United States West Coast somewhere between Bellingham, Washington Territory, and San Francisco, California.[36]
Continental	United States	The sidewheel paddle steamer struck the wreck of the 536-ton sidewheel paddle steamer James Montgomery ( United States) and sank in the Mississippi River at Devil Island above Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She later was refloated.[37]
Dashaway	Unknown	The schooner was stranded on the northern coast of California at Big Flat, about 22 miles (35 km) south of Cape Mendocino. By the time she was found on 3 January 1865, 14 of those on board had died.[38]
George Washington	Unknown	The vessel was lost in the Pacific Ocean off the northern coast of California.[2]
J. M. Chapman	United States	The schooner was lost in the Pacific Ocean during a voyage from Shoalwater Bay in Queensland, Australia, and San Francisco, California.[39]
Kate L. Bruce	Confederate States of America	American Civil War: The armed steamer was sunk as a blockship in the Chattahoochee River.[40]
USS Monarch	United States Army	The decommissioned sidewheel ram was sunk by ice while laid up on the Mississippi River below St. Louis, Missouri. She was refloated and was scrapped in July 1865.[41]
North America	United States	American Civil War: During a voyage under charter to the United States Department of War, carrying 225 sick and wounded Union Army soldiers from New Orleans, Louisiana, to New York City, the 1,061-ton screw steamer foundered in the North Atlantic Ocean east of Georgia at 31°10′N 78°40′W / 31.167°N 78.667°W / 31.167; -78.667 (North America) on 22 or 24 December with the loss of 197 lives.[34]
Swordfish	United States	The brig was lost on the Toddy Rocks off Hull, Massachusetts.[42]

References