AH-WR-1745

Comet

Side-Wheel Steamer · Lost November or December 2, 1865; source gives alternatives · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

The wooden side-wheel steamer Comet struck a snag and sank at Hawkinsville in late 1865.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Comet was a wooden side-wheel steamer built in 1857, measuring 131 feet in length. Gaines describes a probable rebuilding at Savannah in 1865. She struck a snag and sank at Hawkinsville in the Ocmulgee River in November or on December 2, 1865, with no lives lost. The precise loss date and wreck position are not established.

Vessel

Built: 1857
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: 131 ft
Beam: 26.25 ft
Tonnage: 496 tons
Propulsion: Steam, side wheels
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November or December 2, 1865; source gives alternatives
Cause: Collision
Location: Hawkinsville, Georgia, in the Ocmulgee River
Water: Ocmulgee River
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Hawkinsville, Georgia
Region: The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)

Exact position, present depth and surviving condition are not established in the reviewed sources.

W. Craig Gaines — Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks (LSU Press, 2008)
Individual Georgia Comet entry: wooden side-wheel form, 1857 construction, tonnage, length and beam, probable Savannah rebuilding, completed snagging/sinking, alternative late-1865 date and no lives lost.