Ruby
Blockade Runner · United Kingdom · Lost 1863 · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast
A British-built blockade runner chased ashore and burned by Union gunboats off Folly Island in 1863.
JAMES W GARNER
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Ruby was a British-built iron side-wheel steamer that ran cargo through the Union blockade into Charleston. On 11 June 1863, while approaching the harbor from Nassau, she was chased by Union gunboats and run aground at Lighthouse Inlet on Folly Island. She was burned after grounding, and Confederate forces removed most of her cargo and machinery under fire before Union troops later salvaged her iron plating.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- Renfrew, Scotland
- Iron
- 177 ft
- 17 ft
- 400
- Steam, side-wheel
- Not established
Loss
- June 11, 1863
- Grounding
- Lighthouse Inlet, Folly Island, South Carolina
- Atlantic Ocean, near Charleston Harbor
- Nassau, Bahamas → Charleston, South Carolina
- Not established
- 22
- 0
- Capt. Peat
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Broken and burned remains; largely dismantled by salvagers
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 32.68° N 79.94° W
- Approximate position
- Folly Island, South Carolina
Approximate location off Lighthouse Inlet, Folly Island.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)
Exact year of build and full ownership details are not established in the sources reviewed.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Photograph and identification of the beached wreck.
South Carolina in the Civil War (Carolana)
Narrative of the grounding and vessel particulars.
