Condor
Blockade Runner · Confederate States · Lost 1864 · The Outer Banks
A Confederate blockade runner that ran aground near Fort Fisher in 1864, famous for the drowning of Confederate spy Rose Greenhow.
Mike Davison
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Condor was an iron-hulled Confederate blockade runner that ran aground while attempting to slip past the Union naval blockade into Wilmington, North Carolina, on the night of October 1, 1864. Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow drowned when she insisted on taking a small boat to shore rather than risk recapture. The well-preserved 218-foot wreck now rests near Fort Fisher and was designated North Carolina's first Heritage Dive Site in 2017.
Vessel
- 1864
- Not established
- United Kingdom
- Iron
- 218 ft
- Not established
- Not established
- Steam, side paddlewheel
- Not established
Loss
- October 1, 1864
- Grounding
- Off Fort Fisher, near Kure Beach, North Carolina
- Atlantic Ocean
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Not established
- Not established
- 1
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 25 ft
- Almost-complete, well-preserved wreckage
- Not established
- Not established
- North Carolina Heritage Dive Site
Position
- 33.96° N 77.92° W
- Approximate position
- Kure Beach, North Carolina
Approximate position roughly 700 yards off the beach at Fort Fisher.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Underwater Archaeology Branch
Vessel type, loss narrative, and heritage dive site designation.
NC DNCR, "Rose Greenhow, Confederate Spy, Drowning Victim"
Circumstances of Rose Greenhow's death and the ship's grounding.
