Shipwreck 1864 “Constance Decimer”

Dr. E. Lee Spence — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 17:23:25 +0000

The wreck of the Civil War Blockade Runner Constance:

The following has been taken and slightly modified from entry 1864-10-US-SC/GA-1 of Dr. Spence’s book Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The Real Rhett Butler & Other Revelations

The blockade runner Constance, bound from Halifax, with a valuable assorted cargo, mostly on government account, and quite possibly a large quantity of gold, struck the combined wreckage of the Georgiana and the Mary Bowers off Long Island (the present day Isle of Palms, South Carolina) on October 6, 1864, and sank in fifteen feet of water six hundred and forty yards south of the other wrecks. Known variously as the Constance Decima, Constance Decimo, Constance Decimer or simply as the Constance.

Brass lamp found on the wreck of the Civil War blockade runner Constance by Dr. E. Lee Spence and his crew

She was an iron hulled, British Clyde River sidewheel steamer, 201’4″ in length, 20’2″ in breadth and 9’4″ in depth of hold, with a draft of 7’6″. The vessel was 123 registered tons, 254 gross tons, and 345 (or 400 tons) burden.

The steamer was schooner rigged (also described as having two masts lightly rigged) no bowsprit, wide between the funnels (two smokestacks placed in line with the keelson) long and low, raking stem, top gallant fore castle extending far back and unusually round or oval, small rounded house far aft, drawing six feet, one hundred and twenty horsepower, built by John Scott and Sons at Glasgow, Scotland, captained by Duncan Stewart.

Artist conception of the blockade runner Constance. Drawn by Parducci for Spence.

Dr. E. Lee Spence aboard the 136' Research Vessel Fathom V at the start of Sea Research Society's 1972 Constance Expedition.

The Constance cost £13,500 and was registered as owned by Duncan McGregor (McGregor was an agent for Alexander Collie and Company). The Constance was launched at Greenock in 1864, sailed to Bermuda, underwent repairs in Halifax. The vessel was first reported as painted white, then black, then a light lead color, and an even later report stated that her stacks were painted red. The steamer carried a crew of twenty-nine men.

Silver sugar tongs, spoon, brass pie wheel, etc. salvaged from the Constance

(Note One: This was one of several shallow water shipwrecks that Lee Spence searched for and discovered from a plane in 1965 and 1966. In 1967, as part of his efforts relating to the wreck of the Georgiana, Spence dove on this wreck and was able to positively identify it as the Constance. Spence was aided by commercial fisherman Wally Shaffer and later secured the salvage rights to this wreck under the name Artifacts Inc. and salvaged numerous artifacts from it. Spence also did some work on the wreck site with each of the following companies: Sea Research Society, Fathom Expeditions, Meratreasure and Shipwrecks Inc. Sea Research Society’s 1972 “Constance Expedition” was funded in part by Gulf Oil, Mercury Motors, Barringer Research, Taylor Tools, and Rolex Watch Company)

Could this unidentified steamer be the blockade runner Constance?

(Note Two: For more information on the gold on the Constance, see Appendix E in Dr. Spence’s book Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The Real Rhett Butler & Other Revelations. For more on the Georgiana in that book, see Chapter One, entry 1863-3-US-SC/GA-2, and Appendix C for more on the wreck of the Georgiana; and see entry 1864-8-US-SC/GA-2 for more on the wreck of the Mary Bowers.

Spence’s References for this entry (1864-10-US-SC/GA-1):
“Charleston Daily Courier,” (Charleston, SC), October 8, 1864, p. 2, c. 3
“Charleston Mercury,” (Charleston, SC), Volume 85, #12185, October 7, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
“Daily Morning News,” (Savannah, GA), October 8, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
“Philadelphia Port News,” (Philadelphia, PA, October 22, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
“Vessel Papers” (manuscript records), United States National Archives, Washington, DC, Record Group 109, file C-227
Report of the Secretary of the Navy, Second Session, 38th Congress, 1864-1865, (Washington, DC, 1865), p. 725
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington, DC, 1900), Series 1, Volume 10, pp. 386, 406, 468
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington, DC, 1903), Series 1, Volume 16, pp. 8, 9, 10, 34, 37
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington, DC, 1922), Series 2, Volume 3, p. 1120
Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running During the Civil War, by Stephen R. Wise, (University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 1983), pp. 512 (b), 548
Charleston’s Maritime Heritage 1670-1865, by P.C. Coker III, (CokerCraft Press, Charleston, SC, 1987), pp. 214, 304
The Blockade Runners, by Dave Horner, (Florida Classics Library, Port Salerno, FL, 1992), Chapter 14, pp. 114, 115, 225

shipwreck 1864 “Presto”

Dr. E. Lee Spence — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:36:25 +0000

The blockade runner Presto (a.k.a. Fergus), Captain Horsey, struck the wreck of the Minho, and got ashore nearly opposite Battery Rutledge on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, on February 2 (or 4), 1864, and was lost.

shipwreck 1864 Presto Sullivans Island SC

The Presto was inbound from Nassau on her third run through the blockade, with a cargo of shoes, liquor, blankets, bacon, ham, etc. Most of her cargo was on government account, and only a small part of the cargo belonged to private individuals. The crew escaped over the side taking their personal possessions with them. The Federals shelled her with a 300-pounder Parrott and other heavy rifles. The third shot crashed into her and the steamer “was immediately deserted by the loiterers who jumped overboard, took to the shore, and then to their heels in an amusing manner.” The next day the monitors shelled the wreck with their 15-inch guns and completed the destruction. The wreck was fired at one hundred and forty-two times and struck twenty-one times. The soldiers in the fort managed to brave the shelling and rescue a large part of the liquor. The Confederate soldiers got so drunk that it threatened the security of the fort. The Federal commander later wrote that the Confederate troops had a “grand drunk” and he could have captured the entire island with a force of 300 men, if he had just known about the liquor in time. The Presto was described as a very handsome, new steamer with sidewheels and two short funnels painted white, and of 164 tons register. The Presto was afterwards reported as burned to the water’s edge and broken up. (Note One: This was probably the iron hulled steamer Fergus, 553 12/94 tons BM, which was built by Alexander Stephen & Sons at Kelvinhaugh Yard, Glasgow, in 1863. That vessel was a sister ship to the Dare and was built under a contracted price of £12,200. The price probably did not include her engines. Her builders made a profit of £3,500 on her construction. She was originally designated yard #48.) (Note Two: The remains of a wreck in the described location were located and tentatively identified as the Presto by E. Lee Spence and Jim Batey in 1967.)

Note: The foregoing was taken from entry 1864-2-US-SC/GA-1 of “Spence’s List” in Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The Real Rhett Butler & Other Revelations, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, (Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © 1995) and is used by permission.

Spence gives his references for 1864-2-US-SC/GA-1 as:
Charleston Mercury, (Charleston, SC), Volume 84, #11975, February 3, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Charleston Mercury, (Charleston, SC), Volume 84, #11976, February 4, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Charleston Mercury, (Charleston, SC), Volume 84, #11977, February 5, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Charleston Mercury, (Charleston, SC), Volume 84, #11979, February 8, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
“Charleston Daily Courier,” (Charleston, SC), Vol. 62, #19682, February 3, 1864, p. 1, c. 3
“Charleston Daily Courier,” (Charleston, SC), Vol. 62, #19683, February 4, 1864, p. 1, c. 4
“Charleston Daily Courier,” (Charleston, SC), Vol. 62, #19684, February 5, 1864, p. 1, c. 4
“Charleston Daily Courier,” (Charleston, SC), Vol. 62, #19685, February 6, 1864, p. 1, c. 2
Charleston Confederate Herald, (Charleston, SC), Vol. 4, February 6, 1864, p. 1, c.1
Times, (London, England), #24800, February 20, 1864, p. 12, c. 1
Times, (London, England), #24802, February 23, 1864, p. 10, c. 6
Times, (London, England), #24804, February 25, 1864, p. 9, c. 4
“Vessel Papers” (manuscript records), United States National Archives, Washington, DC, Record Group 109, file P-22
Report of the Secretary of the Navy, Second Session, 38th Congress, 1864-1865, (Washington, DC, 1865), p. 728
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington, DC, 1891), Series 1, Volume 35, Part 2, p. 40
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington, DC, 1902), Series 1, Volume 15, pp. 262-266
The Navy in the Civil War, (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, NY, 1905), Volume 2 (“The Atlantic Coast” by Daniel Ammen), p. 146
Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running During the Civil War, by Stephen R. Wise, (University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 1983), pp. 368, 605, 606
Merchant Sailing Ships, 1850-1875, Heyday of Sail, by David R. MacGregor, (Lloyd’s of London Press, 1984), p. 236
Charleston’s Maritime Heritage 1670-1865, by P.C. Coker III, (CokerCraft Press, Charleston, SC, 1987), pp. 271, 288, 303

Sea Research Society Online » 1864 shipwrecks

Shipwreck 1864 “Constance Decimer”

shipwreck 1864 “Presto”