AH-WR-0549

CSS Water Witch

Side-Wheel Gunboat · Confederate States of America · Lost 1864 · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

A Union gunboat captured by Confederate raiders off Savannah in 1864, then burned by its captors months later as Sherman's army approached.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Water Witch was a wooden side-wheel gunboat built in 1851 that spent years surveying South American rivers before Civil War blockade duty off Georgia. On 3 June 1864, a Confederate boarding party surprised and captured her in Ossabaw Sound after a fierce fight on deck. Taken into Confederate service as CSS Water Witch, she was moved up the Vernon River near Savannah. As Union forces under General Sherman closed on the city in December 1864, her Confederate crew burned her at White Bluff to prevent recapture.

Vessel

Built: 1851
Builder: Not established
Yard: Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.
Material: Wood
Length: 163 ft
Beam: 24 ft
Tonnage: 464
Propulsion: Steam, side-wheel
Owners: Confederate States Navy (formerly United States Navy)

Loss

Date: December 19, 1864
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: White Bluff, near Savannah, Georgia
Water: Vernon River, near Savannah
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Lt. W. W. Games, CSN

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established in the sources reviewed
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 31.99° N 81.13° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: White Bluff, near Savannah, Georgia
Region: The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

General area only: coordinate of White Bluff from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)

Precise wreck location and present condition are not established in the sources reviewed.

New Georgia Encyclopedia
Capture, Confederate service, and burning.
Naval History and Heritage Command
Build and service history.
USGS Geographic Names Information System — White Bluff, Georgia
coordinate of the named place of loss