Stone Fleet

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View of the Stone Fleet which sailed from New Bedford, Nov. 16, 1861 Stone fleet.jpg
View of the Stone Fleet which sailed from New Bedford, Nov. 16, 1861

The Stone Fleet consisted of a fleet of aging ships (mostly whaleships) purchased in New Bedford and other New England ports, loaded with stone, and sailed south during the American Civil War by the Union Navy for use as blockships. They were to be deliberately sunk at the entrance of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina in the hope of obstructing blockade runners, then supplying Confederate interests. Although some sank along the way and others were sunk near Tybee Island, Georgia, to serve as breakwaters, wharves for the landing of Union troops, the majority were divided into two lesser fleets. One fleet was sunk to block the south channel off Morris Island, and the other to block the north channel near Rattlesnake Shoals off the present day Isle of Palms in what proved to be failed efforts to block access the main shipping channels into Charleston Harbor. [1]

Contents

History

Various old ships, specifically purchased by the Navy for this purpose, were loaded with stone and sand, or filled with dirt, then towed to a designated spot and sunk as a hazard to all craft that passed. Twenty-four whaleships were sunk in Charleston Harbor by Captain Charles Henry Davis, beginning on 19 December 1861. A second fleet of 12 to 20 vessels was sunk in nearby Mafitt's Channel in 1862. The operation was under the direction of Samuel Francis DuPont, Flag Officer commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Confederate general Robert E. Lee called the measure "an abortive expression of the malice and revenge" of the North.[ citation needed ]

The event inspired Herman Melville to write the poem entitled, "The Stone Fleet". [2]

List of ships in the Stone Fleet

List of ships in the second fleet

See also

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USS Robin Hood was a 400-foot-long (120 m) ship of 395 tons, purchased by the United States Navy in Mystic, Connecticut, during the American Civil War on 20 October 1861 for use in the "Stone Fleet." In December 1861 she was sunk as an obstruction in Charleston Harbor off Charleston, South Carolina.

USS South America (1861) was a whaler purchased by the Union Navy on 9 November 1861 at New London, Connecticut. She was acquired to be sunk as an obstruction in the channel leading to a Confederate port as part of the Union blockade on ports and waterways of the Confederate States of America.

The first USS Meteor retained her commercial name when the United States Navy purchased her for the "Stone Fleet." She was sunk as an obstruction in Charleston Harbor off Charleston, South Carolina, in January 1862.

USS Amazon was a wooden-hulled bark of 318 tons that had previously sailed as a whaler out of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

USS Peri was one of the ships of the Stone Fleet, sunk in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina as a blockade during the American Civil War.

The Phoenix was a 404-ton American wooden whaler based in New London, Connecticut. The Union Navy purchased Phoenix at New London on 9 November 1861, at the start of the American Civil War. The Navy wanted her for the Stone Fleet, a group of vessels to be sunk in the channels of important Southern harbors to interrupt Confederate trade. She sailed on the 20th but grounded while crossing Savannah Bar, lost her rudder, and began leaking badly. When refloated she was beached as a breakwater to shelter Union troops landing on Tybee Island, Georgia, on or before 5 December 1861, in preparation for the Battle of Fort Pulaski.

USS American was a bark of 329 tons, a former whaler, purchased 1 November 1861 at Edgartown, Massachusetts for the Stone Fleet at a cost of $3,370. She left New Bedford, Massachusetts on 20 November 1861, and was intentionally sunk as an obstruction to shipping in the main channel of the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina on 20 December 1861. This ship has sometimes been recorded as America.

USS Timor was purchased at Sag Harbor, New York on 30 October 1861. She was sunk as part of the Stone Fleet at Maffitts channel in Charleston harbor on 25 or 26 January 1862.

USS Stephen Young was one of the ships of the Stone Fleet, sunk in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina to be used as a blockade during the American Civil War.

USS Valparaiso was a Navy vessel that was given a "second life" in her nautical career. During the start of the American Civil War, she was destined to be used as a "stone ship" hazard to navigation sunk in a Southern harbor, but the Union Navy reconsidered and put her to work as a stores ship, supporting the blockade of the ports of the Confederate States of America.

USS Garland was a bark acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The Navy planned on using her as part of the stone fleet; however, because of the Union Army's need for a supply ship, she was transferred to that service for the duration of the entire war.

USS Noble (1861) was a wooden bark purchased during the American Civil War by the Union Navy 2 December 1861 at Sag Harbor, New York.

References

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  2. Jamie L. Jones, "The Navy’s Stone Fleet", The New York Times , 26 January 2012.
  3. "Amazon". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command . Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  4. "American". DANFS. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  5. Navy Department, United States; Stewart, Charles W (1921). Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion . Retrieved 28 May 2015.
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  12. Spears, John R. (1908). The Story of the New England Whalers. New York: The MacMillan Company. p.  392 . Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  13. Mulderink III, Earl F. (2012). New Bedford's Civil War. Fordham University Press. ISBN   9780823243341 . Retrieved 28 May 2015.
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  24. "Peter Demill". DANFS. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  25. "Potomac". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  26. "Rebecca Sims". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  27. "Robin Hood". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  28. "Sara M. Kemp". DANFS. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  29. "South America". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  30. "Tenedos". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  31. "India". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  32. "Margaret Scott". DANFS. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  33. Phillips (1937), pp. 164–165.
  34. "Record # 4841". Narragansett Times. 16 February 1894. p. 1. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011.

Bibliography