AH-WR-0966

Lynx

Blockade Runner · United Kingdom · Lost 1864 · The Outer Banks

Outbound with cotton and Confederate gold, Lynx was shelled and driven ashore near Fort Fisher while trying to slip past the blockade.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Lynx, a Liverpool-built iron side-wheeler, was outbound from Wilmington to Bermuda carrying cotton and Confederate government gold and bonds when she was intercepted crossing New Inlet bar on the evening of 25 September 1864. USS Niphon, Howquah, and Governor Buckingham struck her repeatedly with shellfire; she ran aground near Half Moon Battery and was set afire by her crew, though her purser managed to save the gold before the ship burned.

Vessel

Built: 1864
Builder: Not established
Yard: Liverpool, England
Material: Iron
Length: 220 ft
Beam: 24 ft
Tonnage: 372
Propulsion: Steam, side-wheel
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: September 25, 1864
Cause: Enemy action
Location: Near Half Moon Battery, about 5 miles north of Fort Fisher, North Carolina
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Wilmington, North Carolina → Bermuda
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 1
Master: Not established