Stone Fleet

The Stone Fleet consisted of a fleet of aging ships (mostly whaling ships) 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.

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.

Historians disagree as to the success of the Stone Fleet, since other channels of the Charleston Harbor remained open and the ships broke up in a year or two. However, others note that sufficient time was given for the North to build more gunboats to patrol the harbor.

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

List of ships in the Stone Fleet

• Amazon (bark) 318 tons

• American 329 tons

• Archer (ship) 332 tons, possibly grounded on Savannah Bar Shoals^{[citation needed]}

• Corea was a 336 ton armed store ship of the Royal Navy captured by fisherman from New Bedford, Massachusetts during the American Revolution, and later served as a whaler. Reportedly she was not sunk and was in service with the US Army as late as January 8, 1862.

• Cossack, was a 254 ton bark beached on Tybee Island to act as a wharf for the landing of troops on 8 December 1861.

• Courier (ship) 381 tons
• Fortune (bark) 292 tons, whaler

• Frances Henrietta, was a whaler from New Bedford, Massachusetts. She was purchased for $4,000 by George Morgan and R.H. Chappell on October 19, 1861. There is evidence she was transferred to the US Army and was still afloat as late as January 8, 1862.

• Harvest, was a whaler that operated out of New England. She was purchased on 21 October, 1861, by Morgan and Chappell for $4,000. She arrived off Savannah, Georgia, on 4 December. Records state that she was retained for use as a coal scow.

• Herald was a 274 ton whaler active in the Pacific. Her home port was New Bedford, Massachusetts, owner and master George H. Cash. She was purchased for $4,000 and sunk along with 15 other vessels on December 20, 1861, about four miles south-southeast of Fort Sumter and three miles east-southeast of the light on Morris Island.

• Kensington was a 357 ton wooden, ship-rigged vessel purchased for $4,000 at New Bedford, Massachsetts on 28 October 1861. She departed 20 November and arrived Port Royal, South Carolina by 17 December. She was presumably sunk in the main channel leading into Charleston Harbor 21 December, about four miles south-southeast of Fort Sumter and three miles east-southeast of the light on Morris Island.

• L. C. Richmond, was a 341 ton whaler that began service in Pacific in 1834. She was purchased for $4,000 and with Captain Martin Malloy, she sailed from New Bedford on 20 November 1861. She was sunk along with 15 other vessels on 20 December about four miles south-southeast of Fort Sumter and three miles east-southeast of the light on Morris Island.

• Leonidas, was originally built as a whaling bark of 231 tons, 320 feet long. It was active in the Pacific Ocean in 1849, captained by Captain Swift of New Bedford, Massachusetts. From 1850 to 1854, it was partially owned, and captained by, Benjamin Smith Clark, Jr. It was purchased on 27 October 1861 by the US Navy for $3,050. It sailed from New Bedford in charge of Master John Howland on November 20. Exactly one month later, it was intentionally sunk, along with 15 other vessels, about four miles south-southeast of Fort Sumter and three miles east-southeast of the light on Morris Island.

• Lewis was a sailing ship of 308 tons. It was purchased on 20 October, 1861. It ran aground and bilged near Tybee Island in December 1861. She was 101' in length, 26'2" in breadth, 13'1" in depth of hull, with two decks, three masts, a square stern, no galleries and a billet head.

• Maria Theresa, was a 330 ton ship purchased on 31 October 1861 for $4,000. It was sunk, along with 15 other vessels about four miles south-southeast of Fort Sumter and three miles east-southeast of the light on Morris Island.

• USS Meteor (ship) ran aground 4 December 1861
• Phoenix whaler, 404 tons, sunk as a breakwater for Union troops invading Tybee Island
• Peter DeMill, was a 300 ton bark purchased on 9 November 1861 and beached with South America and Cossack on 8 December to serve as a wharf during the landing of Union troops at Tybee Island, Georgia, at the mouth of the Savannah River.
• USS Potomac (ship) 356 tons
• USS Rebecca Sims (ship) or Rebecca Simms or Rebecca Ann, 400 tons
• USS Robin Hood, East Indiaman (trading vessel), 395 tons, 400 feet
• Sarah M. Kemp, was a schooner purchased at Baltimore, Maryland, on 13 August 1861. The ship was to be sunk in the channel leading into the North Carolina sounds; however, no record of her final disposition has been found.
• USS South America 606 tons
• USS Tenedos (bark), 245 tons, 300 feet, mentioned in Melville's poem.

List of ships in the second fleet

• America (ship) 418 tons
• Dove (bark) 151 tons
• Edward (bark) 274 tons
• Emerald (ship) 518 tons
• India (ship) 366 tons
• Jubilee (bark) 233 tons
• Majestic (bark) 297 tons
• Marcia (bark) 356 tons
• Margaret Scott (bark) 330 tons This ship was bought from the US Marshall in New Bedford, after it had been confiscated as a slave ship. She was sunk 20 January 1862 in Maffitt's Channel in Charleston harbor. A woman named Margaret Scott had been executed in 1692 as one of the Salem Witches.
• Mechanic (ship) 335 tons
• Messenger (bark) 216 tons
• Montezuma (ship) 424 tons
• Newburyport (ship) 341 tons
• New England (ship) 368 tons
• Noble (bark) 274 tons
• USS Peri (bark) 261 tons, missing off Charleston, SC, January 25, 1862.
• USS Stephen Young (brig) 200 tons
• USS Timor (ship)
• Valparaiso (ship) 402 tons
• USS William Lee (ship), 311 tons, mentioned in Melville's poem as the Lee, a whaler out of Newport, Rhode Island

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Bibliography

• Treasures of the Confederate Coast: the "real Rhett Butler" & Other Revelations by Dr. E. Lee Spence, (Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, 1995)[ISBN 1886391017] [ISBN 1886391009], OCLC: 32431590
• Shipwreck Encyclopedia of the Civil War: South Carolina & Georgia, 1861-1865 by Edward Lee Spence (Sullivan's Island, S.C., Shipwreck Press, 1991) OCLC: 24420089
• Shipwrecks of South Carolina and Georgia : (includes Spence's List, 1520-1865) by E. Lee Spence, Sullivan's Island, S.C. (Sullivan's Island 29482, Sea Research Society, 1984) OCLC 10593079
• Shipwrecks, Pirates & Privateers: Sunken Treasures of the Upper South Carolina Coast, 1521-1865 by E. Lee Spence, (Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, 1995) [ISBN 1-886391-07-6]

External links

• Full text of Melville's poem
• Account of the Stone Fleet in Harper's Weekly, January 19, 1862
• Military Correspondence from both sides
• Gordon Wok essay, with mention of the Margaret Scott