Stone Fleet

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]

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.

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

List of ships in the Stone Fleet

List of ships in the second fleet

See also

References

  1. Spence 1995, pp. 142–152, 159–164
  2. "Amazon". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  3. "American". DANFS. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  4. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  5. 1 2 "The Stone Fleet of 1861". The Bay State Monthly. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  6. 1 2 Spence 1995, p. 151
  7. "The Rat Hole Squadron". Harpers Weekly. 14 December 1861. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  8. "Cossack". DANFS. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  9. Spence (1995), pp. 151–152.
  10. Spears, John R. (1908). The Story of the New England Whalers. New York: The MacMillan Company. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  11. Mulderink III, Earl F. (2012). New Bedford's Civil War. Fordham University Press. ISBN 9780823243341. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  12. "Harvest". DANFS. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  13. "Manuscript Collections of the Nantucket Historical Association Research Library". Nantucket Historical Association. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Spence (1995), p. 146.
  15. "Kensington". DANFS. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  16. "LC Richmond". DANFS. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  17. "Leonidas". DANFS. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  18. Spence 1995, p. 142
  19. "Lewis". DANFS. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  20. "Maria Theresa". DANFS. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  21. "Phoenix". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  22. "Peter Demill". DANFS. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  23. "Potomac". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  24. "Rebecca Sims". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  25. "Robin Hood". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  26. "Sara M. Kemp". DANFS. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  27. "South America". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  28. "Tenedos". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  29. "India". DANFS. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  30. "Margaret Scott". DANFS. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  31. "Record # 4841". Narragansett Times. 16 February 1894. p. 1.

Bibliography

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