AH-WR-0600

CSS Stono

Screw Steamer / Gunboat · Confederate States of America · Lost 1863 · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

A captured Union gunboat, taken by Confederate forces and renamed, wrecked on a Charleston Harbor jetty while trying to run the blockade with cotton.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in 1851 as a civilian steamer, she served the Union Navy in South Carolina waters before being captured in the Stono River in January 1863. Renamed Stono and put into Confederate service, she attempted to run the blockade out of Charleston in June 1863 but wrecked on a stone jetty near Fort Moultrie. The hulk remained visible until the Confederate evacuation of Charleston in 1865.

Vessel

Built: 1851
Builder: Not established
Yard: Nyack, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 171.5 ft
Beam: 31.3 ft
Tonnage: 453
Propulsion: Steam, screw
Owners: Confederate States Navy (formerly United States Navy)

Loss

Date: June 5, 1863
Cause: Grounding
Location: Bowman's Jetty, near Fort Moultrie, Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
Water: Charleston Harbor
Voyage: Charleston, South Carolina → Open sea (blockade run)
Cargo: Cotton
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Lt. W.G. Dozier, CSN

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Wrecked on breakwater; later burned by Confederates at the 1865 evacuation of Charleston
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within the Charleston Harbor Naval Battlefield study area

Position

Coordinates: 32.76° N 79.86° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
Region: The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

General area only: coordinate of Fort Moultrie from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel (Bowman's Jetty, near Fort Moultrie), not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (87/100)

Naval History and Heritage Command
Capture, renaming, and loss details.
South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology
Confirmation of wreck within the Charleston Harbor naval battlefield inventory.
USGS Geographic Names Information System — Fort Moultrie, South Carolina
coordinate of the named place of loss