Ranger
Blockade Runner · United Kingdom · Lost 1864 · The Outer Banks
A British-built blockade runner carrying rifle muskets was driven ashore near Lockwood's Folly Inlet under fire from four Union warships.
Charlie Noble
The Vessel and Her Loss
Ranger was a 500-ton British iron side-wheeler carrying ammunition and Austrian rifle muskets toward Wilmington when bad weather and a disabled lighthouse forced her to land passengers at Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina, before continuing north. On 11 January 1864 she was driven ashore near Lockwood's Folly Inlet by USS Daylight and Aries, backed by USS Minnesota and Governor Buckingham. Confederate riflemen ashore killed one Union sailor as boarding parties tried to secure her, and locals later salvaged some of her cargo of muskets.
Vessel
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- Iron
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- 500
- Steam, side-wheel
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Loss
- January 11, 1864
- Enemy action
- About a mile west of Lockwood's Folly Inlet, near Holden Beach, North Carolina
- Atlantic Ocean
- Bermuda or Nassau (via Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina) → Fort Caswell / Wilmington, North Carolina
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- 1
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The Wreck Today
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Position
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- Position not established
- Holden Beach, North Carolina
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies (Carolana.com transcription)
Loss date, description, cargo, and casualty details.
