List of shipwrecks in January 1865

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

1 January

List of shipwrecks: 1 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Des Moines City	United States	The 122-ton sternwheel paddle steamer struck a snag and sank in the Arkansas River in Arkansas.[1]
USS San Jacinto	United States Navy	The screw frigate struck a reef at either No Name Cay or Turtle Cay near Great Abaco Island and Treasure Cay in the Bahamas and filled with water. Efforts to salvage her failed.[2]

2 January

List of shipwrecks: 2 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Celia	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: The schooner, a blockade runner carrying a cargo of turpentine, was shelled, then boarded by a landing party from the gunboat USS Nipsic ( United States Navy) and burned at Murrell's Inlet on the coast of South Carolina.[3]

3 January

List of shipwrecks: 3 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Surprise	New Zealand	The schooner became stranded on a sandspit at the mouth of the Whanganui River while carrying goods from Manukau.[4]

4 January

List of shipwrecks: 4 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Ann Perry	United States	Carrying a cargo of lumber and potatoes, the 348-ton bark ran aground on the coast of California a few miles south of Cliff House with the loss of three lives.[5]
Knickerbocker	United States	The 858-ton sidewheel paddle steamer ran aground on the coast of Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay between Fleet′s Point and Smith′s Point. She was still aground on 15 February when she was captured and burned by Confederate forces.[6]
Rattlesnake	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: While trying to run the Union blockade and enter Charleston Harbor at Charleston, South Carolina, the 529-gross ton screw steamer was forced aground on the coast of South Carolina just east of Breach Inlet by the armed schooner USS Potomska and the gunboat USS Wamsutta (both  United States Navy). She was burned and abandoned.[7]

6 January

List of shipwrecks: 6 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Piedmont	United States	The 448-ton screw steamer burned at Cape Elizabeth, Maine, with the loss of four lives.[5][8]

10 January

List of shipwrecks: 10 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Diligent	United States	The 140-ton sidewheel paddle steamer struck a snag and sank in the Mississippi River upstream from Helena, Arkansas.[9]

12 January

List of shipwrecks: 12 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Columbia	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The ironclad ram struck rocks or a sunken wreck, grounded, and broke her back at Charleston, South Carolina, near Fort Moultrie. Confederate efforts to refloat her failed. Union forces captured her on 18 February and refloated her on 26 April.[10]
Wasp	United States	During a voyage in California from Freeport to San Francisco with a cargo of brick and cobble, the sloop struck a snag and sank in Steamboat Slough.[11]

13 January

List of shipwrecks: 13 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Billy	United Kingdom	The brig was wrecked off Southwold, Suffolk, England, with the loss of all six crew.[12]
Brazilie Packet	Netherlands	The brig parted her cables when anchored near the Brisons, off Cornwall, England, and went on the rocks at Progo Cove, Cape Cornwall, with the loss of all the crew. She was on her way from Rio Grande to Falmouth, Cornwall, carrying hides and horns.[13]
Henrietta	United Kingdom	The sloop hit Barrel Point while attempting to cross Hayle Bar, in St Ives Bay, Cornwall, England, with the loss of all the crew and the pilot.[13]
Young America	United States	The 179- or 350-ton sidewheel paddle steamer struck a snag, broke in two, and sank in the Feather River 8 miles (13 km) below Marysville, California.[11]

14 January

List of shipwrecks: 14 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Ceres	United Kingdom	While carrying roof slate to Hayle, Cornwall, England, the brigantine broke her moorings while in Boscastle, Cornwall, and ran up the beach during hurricane-force winds. She was badly damaged on the next tide and became a wreck.[13]
Elizabeth Jane	United Kingdom	The schooner parted her moorings and was driven out of Newquay harbour and onto Towan Beach, north Cornwall, England.[13]
Lelia	United Kingdom	American Civil War, Union blockade: The 640-gross ton sidewheel paddle steamer, a blockade runner referred by some sources as a cutter, was wrecked at the mouth of the River Mersey on Great Orme Head, Caernarfonshire, Wales, with the loss of two Confederate States Navy personnel.[14][15]

15 January

List of shipwrecks: 15 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Juanito	Spain	The vessel lost her way while carrying sugar and molasses from Cárdenas, Cuba to Greenock, Scotland, and struck the rocks at Duckpool, Cornwall, England, north of Bude Haven, Cornwall, with the loss of one crew member.[13][16]
Lotus	United States	Bound from New York City to Port Royal, South Carolina, carrying a shipment by the Adams Express Company, a cargo of sutler′s stores, four passengers, and a crew of five, the schooner ran ashore on the coast of South Carolina at North Shore Beach near Winyah Bay. While the sidewheel gunboat USS Sebago ( United States Navy) was trying to help refloat her, Lotus was driven farther onto the beach, stranding her.[17]
North Heath	United Kingdom	American Civil War: The 541-gross ton sidewheel paddle steamer, damaged while entering port at Wilmington, North Carolina, in October 1864, was scuttled as a blockship in North Carolina′s Cape Fear River near either Fort Lee or Fort Strong.[18]
USS Patapsco	United States Navy	American Civil War: The monitor struck a mine at Charleston, South Carolina, and sank with the loss of 62 lives almost 800 yards (732 meters) east of Fort Sumter at 32°45′55″N 79°53′29″W / 32.765252°N 79.891281°W / 32.765252; -79.891281 (USS Patapsco (1862)).[19]
CSS Wilmington	Confederate States of America	American Civil War: The incomplete ironclad was burned prior to launching at Wilmington, North Carolina, to prevent her capture by Union forces.[20]

17 January

List of shipwrecks: 17 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Cape Fear	Confederate States of America	Confederate forces scuttled the screw transport in the Cape Fear River near Smithfield, North Carolina, to prevent her capture by Union forces.[21]
Chippewa	United States	The steamer grounded on the south shore of the Arkansas River at Ivey's Ford, 14 miles (22.5 km) above Clarksville, Arkansas. Confederate forces captured her and her crew and passengers, removed her cargo, and burned her.[1]
Columbian	United Kingdom	The 1,100-ton West India and Pacific Steamship Company iron screw steamer was blown onto rocks and wrecked by a hurricane off the island of Ushant, Brittany, France.[22]
Pelteway	Confederate States of America	Confederate forces scuttled the steamer in the Cape Fear River at Smithfield, North Carolina, to prevent her capture by Union forces.[23]
Sir John Franklin	United Kingdom	During a voyage from Baltimore, Maryland, to San Francisco, California, with a cargo of lumber, dry goods, pianos, and distilled spirits, the 999-ton full-rigged ship hit rocks on the coast of California halfway between Pigeon Point and Point Año Nuevo and sank with the loss of 13 lives. There were three survivors.[24]

20 January

List of shipwrecks: 20 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
John Randolph	Confederate States of America	The transport was wrecked on Sullivan's Island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor off Charleston, South Carolina.[25]

21 January

List of shipwrecks: 21 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Granite City	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: The steamer, a blockade runner perhaps renamed Three Marys, was chased ashore off Velasco, Texas, by the screw steamer USS Penguin ( United States Navy) and broke up.[20][26][27]

22 January

List of shipwrecks: 22 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Delphina	Confederate States of America	American Civil War, Union blockade: Carrying a cargo of cotton, the schooner was forced aground and destroyed on the Calcasieu River near Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana by a cutter and a launch from the gunboat USS Chocura ( United States Navy).[28]

23 January

List of shipwrecks: 23 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Drewry	Confederate States Navy	The wreck of a Confederate gunboat on the James River in 1865, believed to be that of CSS Drewry. American Civil War, Battle of Trent's Reach: The gunboat ran aground on the James River in Virginia 400 yards (366 meters) downriver from obstructions at Trent's Reach and 1,500 yards (1,372 meters) above Battery Parsons. On 24 January, two 100-pound (45-kg) shells fired by the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery Regiment ( Union Army) at Fort McPherson then struck her, one of them passing through her magazine. Her crew abandoned ship, and all but two reached safety before her magazine exploded, wrecking her and enveloping her in flames.[29][30]

24 January

List of shipwrecks: 24 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Scorpion	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War, Battle of Trent's Reach: The torpedo boat was ran aground on the James River in Virginia and was abandoned. A United States Navy launch crew captured and refloated her on 27 January.[20]

25 January

List of shipwrecks: 25 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Armenian	United Kingdom	The Elder, Dempster & Co cargo ship ran onto the Arklow Bank in the Irish Sea off the coast of County Wicklow and was wrecked with the loss of four lives. Survivors were rescued by the steamship Montague ( United Kingdom). Four crew of the Arklow Lightship ( United Kingdom) were lost attempting a rescue.[31]

26 January

List of shipwrecks: 26 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
USS Dai Ching	United States Navy	The gunboat ran aground on the Combahee River in South Carolina while under fire by a Confederate artillery battery. She was shelled for seven hours, taking 30 hits, and nne of her crew were wounded. The tug USS Clover ( United States Navy) attempted to tow her off, but the tow line parted. After her last gun was knocked out, Dai Ching was burned by her crew to prevent her capture by Confederate forces. Her crew escaped aboard Clover except for five men captured by the Confederates.[20][32]
Francis & Ann	Jersey	The schooner struck the Helwick Shoal, in the Bristol Channel and was abandoned by her crew, who reached the Helwick Lightship ( United Kingdom), from where they were rescued. Francis and Ann came ashore at Overton, Glamorgan, Wales.[14]
CSS Hornet	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The torpedo boat sank with the loss of at least one life after colliding with the steamer CSS William Allison ( Confederate States Navy) on the James River in Virginia.[20][33][34]

27 January

List of shipwrecks: 27 January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
Eclipse	United States	The 223-ton sternwheel paddle steamer exploded on the Tennessee River near Johnsonville, Tennessee, killing 140 people and injuring 78.[35][36]
Robin Hood	United Kingdom	The pilot cutter was sunk in a collision in the Bristol Channel off Ilfracombe, Devon, England. Her crew were rescued. The wreck came ashore at Langland, Glamorgan, Wales.[14]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date January 1865

Ship	Country	Description
CSS Equator	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The gunboat was burned on the Cape Fear River in North Carolina to prevent her capture by Union forces.[37][38]
Lelia	Unknown	The heavily laden paddle steamer, which had departed the River Mersey in England on 14 January, sank in heavy seas in Liverpool Bay off the Great Orme on the coast of Wales near the lightship Prince with the loss of 39 lives. Twelve survivors reached Prince.
Liverpool No. 1 Lifeboat	( Royal National Lifeboat Institution)	Illustration of the capsizing of the Liverpool No. 1 Lifeboat on its way to rescue the crew of Lelia, from the Illustrated London News. The lifeboat capsized in heavy seas in Liverpool Bay off the Great Orme on the coast of Wales near the lightship Prince while approaching the scene of the sinking of the paddle steamer Lelia (flag unknown), resulting in the death of seven of the lifeboat′s 11 crew members.
Maid of Kent	New Zealand	The 40-ton schooner left Napier, New Zealand for Kaipara Harbour in January, and was not sighted again. A section of her stern was washed up on the west coast of Northland near Maunganui Bluff several months later.[4]
Odd Fellow	United States	The 70-ton sidewheel paddle steamer was sunk by ice on the Mississippi River at Columbus, Kentucky, on either 1 or 6 January.[39]
Saline	United States	The 176-ton sternwheel paddle steamer was stranded on Clark's Bar.[40]
CSS Wasp	Confederate States Navy	American Civil War: The torpedo boat was sunk by Union artillery fire after running aground in the waters of Virginia.[41]

References