AH-WR-1722

William Lee

Whaling Ship · United States · Lost December 19–20, 1861 · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

William Lee was scuttled in Charleston Harbor in December 1861 as a Union blockship.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

William Lee was a whaling ship of 311 tons out of Newport, Rhode Island. The vessel joined the Union’s First Stone Fleet during the Civil War. Gaines’s individual entry records scuttling in Charleston Harbor’s Main Channel on December 19–20, 1861. The individual wreck position and surviving remains are not established.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Not established
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 311 tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: December 19–20, 1861
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Main Channel, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
Water: Atlantic Ocean
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: Charleston, South Carolina
Region: The Georgia & South Carolina Coast

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)

Exact sinking day, individual wreck position, dimensions and present condition are not established.

W. Craig Gaines — Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks, Louisiana State University Press (2008)
Individual William Lee entry: vessel type, tonnage, Union service and completed sinking at the named location with qualified date.