List of shipwrecks in February 1865

The list of shipwrecks in February 1865 includes all ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during February 1865.

4 February

List of shipwrecks: 4 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Jim Barkman	Confederate States of America	American Civil War: The 65-ton sternwheel paddle steamer was captured and burned on the Ouachita River in Louisiana by the 4th and 5th Illinois Cavalry Regiments (both  Union Army).[1]
Unidentified blockade runner	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The blockade runner was aground at Breach Inlet, South Carolina, when the schooner USS Potomska and the gunboat USS Wamsutta (both  United States Navy) sighted her. Her crew then burned and abandoned her.[2]

5 February

List of shipwrecks: 5 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Charlotte	United States	The schooner was lost at the mouth of the Klamath River on the Pacific coast of northern California.[3]
Robert Lee	United States	The 68-ton sternwheel paddle steamer burned on the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky, with the loss of three lives.[4]

5-6 February

List of shipwrecks: 5-6 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Acadia	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: Trying to run the Union blockade into Velasco, Texas, the 738-bulk-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was wrecked on the coast of Texas about 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Velasco. The mortar gunboat USS Virginia ( United States Navy) shelled her but was unable to launch a boat crew to board and burn her because of rough seas.[5]

6 February

List of shipwrecks: 6 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Arago	United States	The 268-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was sunk by ice in the Mississippi River at Dog Tooth Bend at Commerce, Missouri. The portion of the ship remaining above water caught fire.[6]

9-10 February

List of shipwrecks: 9-10 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Will-o′-the-Wisp	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: Carrying a cargo of provisions and small arms, the 117-register ton sidewheel paddle steamer was chased ashore and riddled with gunfire by United States Navy warships on the coast of Texas a few miles southwest of Galveston. A boat expedition from the armed screw steamers USS Antona and USS Princess Royal (both  United States Navy) boarded her and set her on fire, and her hold filled with sand.[2][7]

13 February

List of shipwrecks: 13 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified wharf boat	United States	Carrying 11,000 sacks of grain, the wharf boat sank in the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee.[8]

14 February

List of shipwrecks: 14 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Celt	Confederate States of America	The wreck of SS Celt in 1865. American Civil War, Union blockade: The sidewheel paddle steamer, a blockade runner carrying a cargo of cotton, ran aground off Sullivan's Island while trying to leave Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.[2][9][10][11] Her wreck was captured by the monitor USS Catskill ( United States Navy) on 18 February.[11]

15 February

List of shipwrecks: 15 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Knickerbocker	United States	American Civil War: Aground since 4 January near Smith's Point, Virginia, the 858-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was boarded and burned by Confederate forces.[2][12]
USS Merrimac	United States Navy	American Civil War: The sidewheel gunboat foundered in the North Atlantic Ocean off Florida at 29°11′N 79°12′W / 29.183°N 79.200°W / 29.183; -79.200 (USS Merrimac). The mail steamer Morning Star (flag unknown) rescued her crew.[2][13]

16 February

List of shipwrecks: 16 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Louisa	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The schooner, a blockade runner with a cargo of baggage, cordage, wines, and crockery, was forced aground on the coast of Texas at Aransas Pass by the gunboat USS Penobscot ( United States Navy), which then sank her in shallow water with gunfire. A boat crew from Penobscot completed her destruction by burning her on 18 February.[2][14]
Mary Agnes	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The schooner, a blockade runner with a cargo of baggage, cordage, wines, and crockery, was forced aground on the coast of Texas at Aransas Pass by the gunboat USS Penobscot ( United States Navy). A boat crew from Penobscot burned her on 18 February.[2][14]

17-18 February

List of shipwrecks: 18 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Eagle	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The receiving ship was scuttled in Charleston Harbor at the foot of Tradd Street in Charleston, South Carolina, on 17 or 18 February to prevent her capture by Union forces.[15]

18 February

List of shipwrecks: 18 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Anna Dale	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The armed schooner, a Confederate privateer, was boarded and burned at Pass Cavallo, Texas, by a boat crew from the gunboat USS Pinola ( United States Navy).[2][5]
CSS Charleston	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The casemate ironclad ram was stripped, burned, and blown up with 20 short tons (18.1 metric tons/tonnes) of gunpowder in the Cooper River at Charleston, South Carolina, while anchored below the Drum Island Pleasant Ferry Wharf at 32°47′29″N 79°55′21″W / 32.79139°N 79.92250°W / 32.79139; -79.92250 (CSS Charlestown) to prevent her capture by Union forces.[16]
CSS Chicora	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The casemate ironclad ram was stripped, burned, and blown up in Charleston Harbor at Charleston, South Carolina, in the Cooper River below Drum’s Island off Marshall’s Wharf to prevent her capture by Union forces.[17]
Deer	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: The steamer, a blockade runner, ran aground at Charleston, South Carolina, and was captured by the monitor USS Catskill ( United States Navy).
CSS Indian Chief	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The schooner, serving as a receiving ship, was burned on Town Creek in Charleston Harbor at Charleston, South Carolina, to prevent her capture by Union forces.[18][19]
CSS Palmetto State	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The casemate ironclad ram was stripped, burned, and blown up at a wharf on the Cooper River at Charleston, South Carolina, to prevent her capture by Union forces.[20]
CSS Peedee	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The gunboat was destroyed by Confederate forces on the Pee Dee River in South Carolina 110 miles (177 km) above Georgetown to prevent her capture by Union forces.[21][22]
Two unidentified ironclads	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The two incomplete ironclads, one afloat and one still on the building ways, were burned by Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, to prevent their capture by Union forces.[23]

19 February

List of shipwrecks: 19 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS A. H. Schultz	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The 164-ton sidewheel paddle steamer by a Confederate mine that had drifted from its original position on the James River in Virginia near Chapin's Bluff and sank in five minutes with the loss of four lives.[2][24]
William Allison	Confederate States of America	American Civil War: Carrying a cargo of blankets, the 304-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was sunk accidentally by a Confederate mine in the James River off Cox's Ferry, Virginia.[25]

20 February

List of shipwrecks: 20 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Thames	New Zealand	The brig was wrecked on the Canterbury coast while transporting telegraph poles from Marlborough.[26]
Unnamed cutter	United States Navy	American Civil War: The cutter, from the gunboat USS Shawmut ( United States Navy), was blown up by a Confederate floating mine on the Cape Fear River that had drifted down from Wilmington, North Carolina. Two men aboard the cutter were killed and two were wounded.[27]

22 February

List of shipwrecks: 22 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Caswell	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The sidewheel tender was burned to prevent her capture by Union forces when Wilmington, North Carolina, fell to the Union.[28][29]
Daring	New Zealand	The 32-ton schooner ran aground several miles south of the mouth of the Kaipara Harbour. Attempts were made to refloat her, but a gale sprang up and she was wrecked.[26]

25 February

List of shipwrecks: 25 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Chickamauga	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The 586-ton armed screw steamer was burned by her crew and scuttled as a blockship on the Cape Fear River just below Indian Wells, North Carolina, and 50 miles (81 km) above Wilmington, North Carolina.[2][30]

27 February

List of shipwrecks: 27 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
USS Arizona	United States Navy	The sidewheel paddle steamer caught fire on the Mississippi River 38 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana, and was abandoned when the fire went out of control. After she was abandoned, she grounded on the west bank of the river, continued to burn, and finally exploded at 12:35 a.m. on 28 February. Four members of her crew were listed as missing; 94 survived.
Spray	United States	Bound from Fort Monroe, Virginia, for Beaufort, South Carolina, with a cargo of United States Army coal, the schooner was wrecked on shoals off the coast of North Carolina 10 to 11 miles (16 to 18 km) southeast of Cape Lookout. The armed sidewheel paddle steamer ( United States Navy) rescued her six crew members on 2 March.[31]

28 February

List of shipwrecks: 28 February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
USS Arina	United States Navy	American Civil War: The vessel was destroyed by fire on the Mississippi River below New Orleans, Louisiana.[2]
Sort	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: The 33-ton schooner, a blockade runner carrying liquor and other assorted cargo, was forced aground off the coast of Florida on St. Martin's Reef near the mouth of the Crystal River by armed boats from the gunboat USS Honeysuckle ( United States Navy).[2][32]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date February 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Nymph of the Seas	New Zealand	The schooner was wrecked close to the location of the wreck of the Thames (see February 20) some time in February.[26]
CSS Wilmington	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The screw gunboat was burned to prevent her capture by Union forces when Wilmington, North Carolina, fell to the Union.[33][34]
CSS Yadkin	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The incomplete ironclad gunboat either was destroyed on the building ways to prevent her capture by Union forces when Wilmington, North Carolina, fell to the Union, or was scuttled as a blockship in North Carolina′s Cape Fear River near Fort Campbell (sources disagree).[33][35]
Seven David-type torpedo boats	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The torpedo boats, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, were scuttled in Charleston Harbor off Charleston, South Carolina – at least three of them in the Cooper River – to prevent their capture by Union forces. Union forces later salvaged and repaired three of them scuttled in the Cooper River.[15]

References