CSS Drewry
Gunboat · Confederate States of America · Lost 1865 · Chesapeake Bay
A Confederate James River gunboat destroyed by a magazine explosion during the January 1865 Battle of Trent's Reach, later located by NUMA divers.
The Vessel and Her Loss
CSS Drewry was a small Confederate gunboat attached to the James River Squadron defending Richmond. During the Battle of Trent's Reach on 24 January 1865, she was struck and her magazine exploded, destroying the vessel. The battle was one of the last major Confederate naval actions of the war. In 1985, a NUMA expedition led by Clive Cussler located her wreck on the river bottom.
Vessel
- 1863
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Steam
- Confederate States Navy, James River Squadron
Loss
- January 24, 1865
- Enemy action
- Trent's Reach, James River
- James River
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Wreck located and identified on the James River bottom
- Not established
- 1985
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Trent's Reach, James River, Virginia
NUMA's 1985 survey reported a location on the James River at Trent's Reach; a precise public position was not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)
The precise present-day wreck position and condition beyond the 1985 survey are not established in the sources reviewed.
National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA)
1985 discovery of the wreck at Trent's Reach.
Naval History and Heritage Command
Vessel history and loss at the Battle of Trent's Reach.
