AH-WR-1616

USS Bazely

Steam Tug · United States · Lost December 1864; sources differ between 9 and 10 December. · The Outer Banks

USS Bazely was a Union steam tug lost in the Roanoke River during the Civil War.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Bazely was a steam tug built at Gloucester, New Jersey, in 1863. Purchased by the Navy in June 1864, it served briefly in Virginia before joining operations in the North Carolina sounds. It participated in the capture of Plymouth. In December 1864 it struck a Confederate mine while assisting the sunken Otsego and sank.

Vessel

Built: 1863
Builder: Not established
Yard: Gloucester, New Jersey
Material: Not established
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, screw
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: December 1864; sources differ between 9 and 10 December.
Cause: Enemy action
Location: Near Jamesville, North Carolina
Water: Roanoke River
Voyage: Not established
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: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Near Jamesville, North Carolina
Region: The Outer Banks

No numeric position transcribed from the sources reviewed.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)

Sources disagree on 9 versus 10 December 1864; exact coordinates and casualty totals are not established here.

North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, Eastern North Carolina Civil War Shipwrecks, 1861-1865
Service, loss circumstances and archaeological context; Bazely site 0008ROR and Otsego site 0009ROR are cited in the bibliography.
AmericanCivilWar.com reproduction of U.S. Naval Historical Center USS Bazely history
Construction in 1863, purchase and service; gives 9 December, while the state narrative places Bazely’s loss the next morning after Otsego’s 9 December sinking.