How a Teen Archeologist Discovered a Sunken Confederate Warship

In ‘This Week in History,’ the most powerful Confederate cruiser was sunk off the coast of Charleston and discovered exactly 102 years later.

"Chase of a Blockade Runner," Nov. 26, 1864, Harper's Weekly, Public Domain

A month before Abraham Lincoln took office as the country’s 16th president, seven states had already seceded from the Union. Thirty-nine days later at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, where Union troops had been stationed. The Civil War had begun.

A week later, on April 19, Lincoln proclaimed a “blockade of the ports” of those states along the southern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico seaboard: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

His proclamation established a naval force “to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports.” The naval force was composed of four squadrons—the North and South Atlantic Squadrons and the East and West Gulf Squadrons—with more than 3,500 miles of coastline to cover. The blockade idea originated from Winfield Scott, commanding general of the United States Army. It was known as the Anaconda Plan.

The Anaconda Plan

Cartoon map illustrating Gen. Winfield Scott's plan to crush the Confederacy, economically. Public Domain

There were three parts to the plan: the naval blockade, establishing a strong defensive perimeter around Washington, and sending Union troops up the Mississippi River to split the Confederate armies. Since only the naval blockade was instituted, the Anaconda Plan can hardly be called a success. According to one estimate, “Confederate steamers successfully penetrated the Union blockade into North Carolina and South Carolina ports over 90 percent of the time.”

But this doesn’t mean the blockade was a complete failure. The plan did enable the capture of numerous vessels attempting to break into or out of the blockade.

Of the four squadrons, the South Atlantic Squadron had the most arduous task, having to cover the coastline from the border of North Carolina and South Carolina down to Florida. It was against this squadron that one prominent Confederate saw an opportunity.

Trenholm’s Cruiser

George Alfred Trenholm was a shipping merchant and a financier. As senior partner of Fraser & Company, a prominent commercial business in South Carolina, he had established himself as one of the wealthiest men of the South. He was also a politician, representing Charleston four times in the state’s legislature. Additionally, it seems Trenholm was the inspiration for Margaret Mitchell’s Rhett Butler in her classic book, “Gone with the Wind.”

Fraser & Company, which Trenholm placed at the Confederate government’s disposal, had three branches: Charleston; New York City; and Liverpool, England. The latter was used as an “overseas depository for the Confederate treasury, from which it advanced credit to purchasing agents and arranged for the payment and shipment of vital supplies to the South.” Trenholm believed, with so much space to cover by the South Atlantic Squadron, it would be feasible to utilize blockade-runners to import and export supplies and goods.

To increase the success and financial returns of the blockade-runners, Trenholm financed the construction of a new ship. The ship was secretly built in Scotland. Its construction, or at least the purpose for its construction, was kept secret because it was against international law for a neutral nation, like Great Britain, to contribute to or aid a belligerent.

The U.S. consul in Glasgow was aware that a large and powerful cruiser was being built, but could not prove it was for the Confederacy. While diplomats struggled to piece together the naval mystery, the iron-hulled, 120-horsepower steam engine ship was being completed. As supplies, including cannons, gunpowder, rifles, and musket balls, were being stashed in the cargo hold, time was running out for the consul to suspend the ship’s completion or stop it from leaving port.

The ship would be able to mount 14 guns and house a crew of approximately 140 men. It would be a ship nearly twice as powerful as the CSS Alabama, the Confederate cruiser that had also been secretly built in England under the nondescript name “290.”

Not only would this new ship be a blockade-runner, capable of speeds of 12 to 14 knots (faster than most other ships), but as a man-of-war, it could also take prizes. If the success of the CSS Alabama was any indication—in the span of two years, it captured 65 vessels and sank a Union warship—the new cruiser would indeed be a terror on the seas for the Union.

The Georgiana Sails

During the final weeks of winter in 1863, as the U.S. consul frantically worked to have the ship condemned by the British customs office, the ship that had become known as the SS Georgiana, slipped out of harbor on a Sunday—the one day of the week the customs office was closed. The majestic black-painted vessel with its bust of a woman figurehead and gold painted “Georgiana” lettering (named after Trenholm’s late daughter) set sail on its maiden voyage.

Its first stop was Nassau, Bahamas. After sailing from Nassau and nearing Charleston, the SS Georgiana’s maiden voyage was its last. It was during this week in history in the early and dark morning hours of March 19, 1863, that the Confederate cruiser attempted to slip through the blockade of the South Atlantic Squadron. It appears that the blockade squadron was aware of the ship’s arrival and destination. The Union ships were on alert.

The black ship was difficult to spot in the dark, but it was not dangerous, as its guns had yet to be placed. Fortunately for the blockaders, the cruiser’s smoke from its stack was visible, and an armed yacht called the American was the first to spot it.

Sinking the Georgiana

The American fired on the ship, alerting the other Union vessels of the Georgiana’s arrival. The gunboat USS Wissahickon set after the cruiser, firing cannonballs into its hull. The cruiser, captained by retired British officer A.B. Dickinson (some sources suggest Dickenson or Davidson), shone a white light, which the Union captain took for a sign of surrender. When the captain of the Wissahickon sent small boats with Union soldiers to board the Georgiana, its crew began firing small arms at the soldiers—an act Union sailors viewed as “the most consummate treachery"—and Dickinson steamed off again hoping to reach shore in order for the men to escape.

Crewmembers of USS Wissahickon by the ship's 11-inch (280 mm) Dahlgren gun, circa 1863. Public Domain

The Georgiana was run aground in 14 feet of water, was scuttled, and those aboard escaped ashore. When the Union ships caught up, sailors were reluctant to board the Georgiana, just in case the Confederates were planning more “treachery.” When it was realized the crew had escaped, Union sailors boarded the ship and removed supplies, including munitions and bottles of liquor (some of the sailors had to be clapped in irons for drunkenness). Over the next three days, already ablaze, the Georgiana suffered several explosions. Its destruction was complete.

Upon hearing of the Georgiana’s destruction, Gideon Welles, the U.S. secretary of the Navy, wrote to Adm. Samuel Du Pont, who commanded the South Atlantic Squadron, suggesting that “the destruction of the Georgiana not only touched [the Confederacy’s] pockets, but their hopes. She was a splendid craft, peculiarly fitted for the business of privateering.” In fact, the Georgiana, in its sunken state, did more for the Union than it ever did for the Confederacy, as three blockade-runners were incidentally sunk by it.

Finding Georgiana

E. Lee Spence with priceless, ruby studded, over one kilo 22-karat gold sword handle once owned by 19th-century pirate kings of Bali. Spence has made significant contributions to the field of underwater archeology. HunleyFinder/CC BY 3.0

A century later, E. Lee Spence, the American teenager who had grown up in Europe, became obsessed with the idea of sunken ships and the treasures they held. His interest in oceanography was first stimulated at the age of 12, after reading Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s “The Silent World.” He didn’t just want to be a diver, he wanted to be an “underwater archaeologist.”

While living in France, his attention turned to the SS Georgiana. He gathered “hundreds of pages of data relating to the Georgiana,” including Coast and Geodetic Survey charts, and studied the history of the wreckage, working to assess precisely the sunken ship’s location. He believed he had found it; but knowing where it was and reaching it were two very different things.

That all changed during the end of his junior year of high school when his father decided to move the family back to the United States. Their new hometown? Charleston, South Carolina.

Spence believed the Georgiana was located in alignment with 29th Avenue of the Isle of Palms, the barrier island town slightly north of Charleston. He began renting planes to fly over the presumed location under the ruse of taking flying lessons. During the flights, he took notice of several shadows in the water, which he believed to be several wrecks.

“I was convinced that I had discovered the Georgiana’s resting place,” Spence wrote. “On the strength of that I sent a letter to the state claiming ownership as the discoverer.”

Taking the Dive

He talked to numerous fisherman trawlers about the location and if they had ever snagged their nets around the area. Numerous confirmed his suspicions. One trawler, Capt. Walter Shaffer, proved the most knowledgeable of the area, and Spence convinced the fisherman to help in his quest.

Coincidentally, it was during this week in history as well, on the 102nd anniversary of the Georgiana’s sinking, that Spence, after approximately two and a half hours of dragging grappling hooks behind Shaffer’s vessel, made contact. Spence quickly put on his diving suit and gear, and dove in. He had found the Georgiana.

Along with the Georgiana, however, his calculations led him to believe that there might be more than one ship in the wreckage. Historical documents noted that other ships had wrecked on the Georgiana wreckage. Sitting atop the Georgiana was another blockade-runner: the Mary Bowers.

Spence’s discovery resulted in the recovery of many artifacts from both vessels, including rifle cannons, projectiles, and brass sewing pins. Additionally, it was Spence who made the connection between the real Trenholm and the fictional Rhett Butler. For Spence, though, the objective had always been about the Georgiana.

Artifacts recovered from the wrecks of Georgiana and Mary Bowers. HunleyFinder/CC BY-SA 3.0

“Even finding all of the missing gold wouldn’t give me the thrill I felt on that first dive when I realized I had discovered the Georgiana,” he admitted.

Spence, who is known universally as a pioneer in underwater archaeology, noted that “the treasure I sought was not only gold, but history.”

In fact, the alleged 375 pounds’ worth of gold coins has never been recovered. The Georgiana may still have something left to offer up from her historic wreckage.

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