AH-WR-0583

CSS Gaines

Sidewheel Gunboat · Confederate States of America · Lost 1864 · The Gulf of Mexico

A hastily built Confederate gunboat, crippled defending Mobile Bay, that was run aground and burned within sight of Fort Morgan.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

CSS Gaines was a wooden sidewheel gunboat built at Mobile in 1861-62 for the Confederate Navy. She served the entirety of her short career defending Mobile Bay. During the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, Union gunfire holed her hull below the waterline, and her commander ran her aground near Fort Morgan to avoid capture. The crew set her afire and escaped to Mobile.

Vessel

Built: 1862
Builder: Not established
Yard: Mobile, Alabama
Material: Wood
Length: 202 ft
Beam: 38 ft
Tonnage: 863
Propulsion: Steam, sidewheel
Owners: Confederate States Navy

Loss

Date: August 5, 1864
Cause: Enemy action
Location: Near Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, Alabama
Water: Mobile Bay
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 130
Lives lost: 2
Master: Lt. John W. Bennett, CSN

The Wreck Today

Depth: 24 ft
Condition: Possibly located in Mobile Bay in 1989; the find was not confirmed.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1989 (unconfirmed)
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 30.23° N 88.02° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Fort Morgan, Alabama
Region: The Gulf of Mexico

Contemporary and NUMA survey accounts place the grounded and scuttled gunboat within about 500 yards of Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay; no precise charted fix was located.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (70/100)

A 1989 survey detected a likely wreck site near Fort Morgan, but the identification as Gaines has not been confirmed.

Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS)
Build, service, and loss narrative.
W. Craig Gaines, Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks (LSU Press, 2008)
1989 survey details and wreck status.
CSS Gaines, Wikipedia (citing Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks)
wreck position
Survey of Civil War Ships, National Underwater and Marine Agency
wreck position