Texas & the Western Gulf
Hurricane coast and shipping lanes
A flat, harbourless coast fronts warm shallow water crossed by heavy commercial traffic.
The Texas coast is a shoal shelf with few refuges, and hurricanes have driven vessels ashore or foundered them offshore for centuries. Galveston and the passes into the bays lie behind bars where a loaded ship touched bottom in any sea. In the twentieth century the oil trade filled the lanes with tankers, and wartime submarine attacks in 1942 added losses well offshore.
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Records in These Waters
RegisteredAcadia
AH-WR-0571Surfside, Brazoria County, Texas
1865 · Blockade Runner
AvailableAnna Dale
AH-WR-0579Pass Cavallo, Calhoun County, Texas
1865 · Schooner
Historical ListingBrutus
AH-WR-0382Galveston, Texas
1837 · Schooner
AvailableCity of Waco
AH-WR-0574Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
1875 · Passenger And Cargo Steamship
Historical ListingCSS Bayou City
AH-WR-0566Galveston, Texas
Final disposition unclear; advertised for sale as government property in 1866 near Lagrange on the Neches River. · Sidewheel Steamer (Cottonclad Gunboat)
AvailableDayton
AH-WR-0570Ingleside, Nueces County, Texas
1845 · Steamer
RegisteredDenbigh
AH-WR-0127Galveston, Texas
1865 · Blockade Runner
AvailableFarmer
AH-WR-0577Galveston Bay, Texas
1853 · River/Bay Packet Steamer
AvailableGeorge Vancouver
AH-WR-0884Freeport, Texas
1976 · Liberty Ship · 55 ft deep
AvailableHannah Elizabeth
AH-WR-0578Pass Cavallo, Calhoun County, Texas
1835 · Schooner
AvailableIndependence
AH-WR-0572Matagorda Bay, Calhoun County, Texas
1852 · Passenger And Mail Steamship
Historical ListingInvincible
AH-WR-0381Galveston Island, Texas
1837 · Schooner
AvailableKinta S
AH-WR-0749Port Aransas, Texas
2014 · Cargo Freighter · 75 ft deep
Historical ListingLa Belle
AH-WR-0565Matagorda Bay, Texas
1686 · Frigate (Small) · 12 ft deep
AvailableMary
AH-WR-0569Aransas Pass / Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
19th century; precise date not established in the sources reviewed · Steamship
Historical ListingMoctezuma
AH-WR-0383Boca Chica Beach, Texas
1836 · Man-Of-War
AvailableMV Kraken
AH-WR-0882Galveston, Texas
2017 · Cargo Freighter · 140 ft deep
Historical ListingNeptune
AH-WR-0581Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
1863 · Tugboat
AvailableNew York
AH-WR-0568Brazos Santiago, Texas
1846 · Steam Packet
Historical ListingRoyal Yacht
AH-WR-0576Bolivar Point, Galveston, Texas
1861 · Pilot Schooner
Historical ListingSan Bernard
AH-WR-0567Galveston, Texas
Driven ashore at Galveston after 1841 service and not repaired; formally decommissioned May 11, 1846. · Schooner
AvailableSS John Worthington
AH-WR-0883San Jose Island, near Aransas Pass and Port Aransas, Texas
1943 · Tanker
AvailableSS Nicaragua
AH-WR-0128Padre Island, Texas
1912 · Steamer
AvailableSS Oaxaca
AH-WR-0575Matagorda Peninsula, Matagorda County, Texas
1942 · Cargo Freighter · 65 ft deep
AvailableSS Selma
AH-WR-0126Galveston, Texas
1922 · Tanker
AvailableSS V.A. Fogg
AH-WR-0747Freeport, Texas
1972 · Tanker · 100 ft deep
Historical ListingUSS Clifton
AH-WR-0231Sabine Pass, Texas
1863 · Gunboat
Historical ListingUSS Morning Light
AH-WR-0573Sabine Pass, Jefferson County, Texas
1863 · Sailing Gunboat
Historical ListingUSS Patroon
AH-WR-0582Brazos Santiago, Cameron County, Texas
1865 · Screw Steamer
Historical ListingUSS Sachem
AH-WR-0232Sabine Pass, Texas
1863 · Gunboat
Historical ListingUSS Westfield
AH-WR-0380Galveston, Texas
1863 · Gunboat
Historical ListingUSTS Texas Clipper
AH-WR-0743South Padre Island, Texas
2007 · Attack Transport / Training Ship
RegisteredWill o' the Wisp
AH-WR-0384Rio Grande mouth, Texas coast
1864 · Blockade Runner
Historical ListingZavala
AH-WR-0564Galveston, Texas
1842 · Sidewheel Steamer
