AH-WR-0127

Denbigh

Blockade Runner · Confederate States (chartered, British-built) · Lost 1865 · Texas & the Western Gulf

One of the Confederacy's most successful blockade runners, wrecked off Galveston weeks after the Civil War effectively ended.

Captain of Record

David Cleveland Coe

AHR-1894

See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built in 1860 near Liverpool as a fast coastal paddle steamer, Denbigh was purchased for blockade running between Havana and Confederate ports beginning in 1864. She completed roughly two years of successful runs before grounding off Galveston, Texas, where Union forces destroyed her on May 23-24, 1865. The wreck was located and recorded by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in 1997 and became the subject of a long-running excavation project. Her career is considered exceptionally well documented for a blockade runner.

Vessel

Built: 1860
Builder: Laird, Sons & Co.
Yard: Birkenhead, England
Material: Iron
Length: 182 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 258
Propulsion: Steam, side-wheel paddle
Owners: European Trading Company; Confederate trading interests operating out of Mobile, Alabama

Loss

Date: May 24, 1865
Cause: Enemy action
Location: Off Galveston, Texas
Water: Gulf of Mexico
Voyage: Havana, Cuba → Galveston, Texas
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1997
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 29.30° N 94.80° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Galveston, Texas
Region: Texas & the Western Gulf

General area only: coordinate of Galveston, the named place of loss recorded for this vessel (off Galveston), from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (82/100)

Public coordinates for the wreck site are not established in the sources reviewed.

Institute of Nautical Archaeology
Build history, blockade-running career, loss date, and discovery.
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, "The Denbigh Project"
Excavation phases and vessel specifications.
USGS Geographic Names Information System — Galveston
coordinate of the named place of loss