Governor
Steamer · United States · Lost 1861 · The Outer Banks
A chartered Union troop transport carrying a Marine battalion foundered in a Cape Hatteras hurricane during the 1861 'Great Expedition.'
The Vessel and Her Loss
Governor was a wooden side-wheel steamer chartered by the Navy to carry a battalion of Marines to Port Royal, South Carolina, in October 1861. Rounding Cape Hatteras, the expedition ran into a violent gale; Governor lost her smokestack and engine power and began to founder. USS Sabine and other ships worked through the storm to take off nearly all aboard before she went down, with only seven lives lost.
Vessel
- 1846
- Samuel Sneeden
- New York, New York
- Wood
- 230 ft
- 28 ft
- 644
- Steam, side-wheel
- Chartered by the United States Navy
Loss
- November 2, 1861
- Storm
- At sea off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
- Atlantic Ocean
- Hampton Roads, Virginia → Port Royal, South Carolina
- U.S. Marine Corps battalion and stores
- 650
- 7
- Captain Litchfield (master); Major John G. Reynolds commanded the embarked Marine battalion
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (72/100)
The exact position of the wreck has not been established in the sources reviewed.
Naval History and Heritage Command / Civil War naval chronology accounts
Loss date, cause, casualties, rescue details.
Fold3 Historical Blog, 'The Great Expedition Encounters a Hurricane'
Narrative context of the Great Expedition hurricane of 1861.
