AH-WR-0602

Constance

Blockade Runner · Confederate States of America · Lost 1864 · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

A Clyde-built blockade runner that sank while trying to slip into Charleston Harbor, reported fully submerged by a Union blockade vessel.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Constance was an iron-hulled blockade runner attempting to reach Charleston when she ran hard aground near Long Island on 6 October 1864. The Union gunboat USS Wamsutta found her completely submerged and identified her as similar in build to the runner Mary Bowers. Her remains lie near the well-documented Georgiana wreck site off present-day Isle of Palms.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Iron
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, side paddle wheels
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 6, 1864
Cause: Grounding
Location: Near Long Island (present-day Isle of Palms), Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Water: Charleston Harbor approaches
Voyage: Nassau or Bermuda (likely) → Charleston, South Carolina
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Submerged near-shore wreck, subject of modern beach-erosion mitigation planning
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1960s
Protection: Within a beach-renourishment buffer zone near Isle of Palms

Position

Coordinates: 32.79° N 79.79° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Isle of Palms, South Carolina
Region: The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

General area only: coordinate of Isle of Palms, the present-day named place corresponding to the historic Long Island named in the loss record, from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)

The vessel's builder, tonnage, and cargo at the time of loss are not established in the sources reviewed.

Running the Blockade: A Civil War Naval Blog
Contemporary Union report of the wreck.
South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology
Confirmation of wreck location near the Georgiana site.