The following pages are reproduced from the Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference, Washington, D.C., January 1995. 82

J. BARTO ARNOLD 111 that a lightly-constructed merchant vessel could RICHARD J. ANUSKIEWICZ no longer be expected to stand up to a purpose­ built, heavily constructed, man-of-war (Keegan USS Hatteras: Site Monitoring 1989:97-99). Nevertheless, the Navy acquired many commercial vessels for Union service dur­ and Mapping ing the Civil War. The West Gulf Blockading Squadron, of which USS Hatteras was a part, Introduction-Requiem for a Featherweight was mostly composed of such ships. This paper reports a program to the Hatteras wreck "Under no circumstances... can a steam vessel, site and map the remains visible above the bot­ built expressly for the transportation of freight or tom (Figure I). The report also describes the passengers, be made, in any manner, equal in ship, its history, wreck site, site history, and ar­ convenience or efficiency to a vessel originally tifacts. intended for war purposes." Perry was absolutely right in the quote above (Howarth 1991: 186), The Ship-Physical Description and the quick disposal of USS Hatteras by CSS Alabama on 11 January 1863 off Galveston was Harlan and Hollingsworth of Wilmington, a textbook example. For centuries it was com­ Delaware, built a sidewheel steamer called St. mon to convert merchantmen for naval service in Mary; on 25 September 1861 the Navy acquired time of war. However, by the mid-19th century, the 1,126-ton iron-hulled ship from the builders offensive armaments had developed to the point at a cost of $110,000 (Wilbur 1927:100). Fitted

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FIGURE 1. Preliminary site plan of the USS Hatteraswreck .• 83 out at the Navy Yard and named ship and some parts of the steam engine rise USS Hatteras, its measurements were 210 ft. in partially above the sand bottom. The only other length, 34 ft. in beam, 18 ft. in draft, and an 8­ remains showing above the bottom in 1992 and knot speed. The third-rate warship had a three­ 1993 were a very small section of encrusted iron masted rig and a condensing, walking­ near the bow which was tentatively identified on beam engine developing 500 horsepower whose the assumption that it was located forward of the cylinder diameter was 50 in. with a 132-in. paddlewheels and on its orientation and distance stroke (Silverstone 1989:73). The engine had a from other exposed remains. In 1994, the bow Sickell's cutoff. The boiler had the flues wreckage was buried. mounted below and tubes above (Wilbur 1927: Site mapping and monitoring were conducted 100). Hatteras had a complement of 126 offic­ in 1992, 1993, and 1994 through a joint THC/ ers and men and was armed with four 32-pound­ MMS project under co-directors Barto Arnold ers of 27 hundredweight (short 32-pounders) and and Rick Anuskiewicz (Anuskiewicz and Arnold one 20-pounder rifle (Navy Department 1977: 1992; Arnold 1993). The 1993 fieldwork in­ 270). The 20-pounder rifle was not part of the cluded a detailed magnetometer survey to pro­ original suite of guns but was added 21 Novem­ vide a contour plot of the magnetic anomaly and ber 1861. The warship was commissioned in locate any scattered remains (Figures 2 and 3). October 1861 (Silverstone 1989:73). Remarkably little scatter was detected-only three small, isolated point sources. These anoma­ The Shipwreck Site lies could result from scattering by shrimp trawls, battle damage, or Hatteras' portside guns, The site is located about 32 km (20 mi.) which had been jettisoned to correct a list as she south of Galveston and about 8.7 km (14 mi.) was sinking. The magnetic signature with mul­ offshore; snagged shrimp nets had pointed to this tiple highs and lows was typical of a shipwreck. area, which otherwise could have been missed. A cooperative effort between the Texas Histori­ The Ship's History cal Commission (THC) and the Minerals Man­ agement Service (MMS), OCS In fall 1862, Union forces captured Region, recorded new site coordinates with a Galveston. Earlier, the West Gulf Squadron had Trimble Navigation, Inc. Differential Global Po­ been running past Confederate forts and tempo­ sitioning System (DGPS) in 1993. The DGPS rarily capturing such towns as Corpus Christi system has an accuracy of one m. In 1994, as a and Indianola. Texas was a major cotton pro­ test of the DGPS system, the magnetometer was ducer, and it was important to the Confederacy not used to buoy the site prior to sending down to get that cotton past the blockade or down to the first dive team. Rather, navigating with the Matamoros, Mexico, by wagon. General Bank's same model Trimble DGPS system, the research was to come to Galveston for a vessel anchored on the DGPS coordinates from thrust into Texas, but on New Year's Eve Gen­ 1993. The divers found and buoyed the site im­ eral Magruder's Confederate forces staged a sur­ mediately upon descent, and several hours were prise attack and recaptured the town and several saved in the process. Water depth at the site is hundred troops of the garrison. USS Harriet 17.6 m (58 ft.), and maximum relief above the La.ne was captured by cottonclads armed only bottom is ca. 1.2 m (4 ft.). The shipwreck site's with sharpshooters. USS Westfield went aground official number is 41GV68; the Texas Antiquities and was blown up to prevent capture. The pre­ Committee has designated it a State Archaeologi­ mature explosion of Westfield's magazine killed cal Landmark, and it is also listed on the Na­ Captain Renfrew, the ship's as well as the tional Register of Historic Places. squadron's commander (Fehrenbach 1968 and Little of the wreck is exposed above the Snyder 1938). This disaster set the tone of sand. Paddlewheel hubs on both sides of the Union frustration in assaults on Texas for the 84

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FIGURE 2. Contour plot of magnetometer data from USS Hatteras.One hundred gamma contours. (Surfer for Windows software provided by Golden Software.) rest of the war (Neyland 1993). "There was Blockading Squadron. The time in Florida in­ never to be a Union song called 'Marching cluded a highly successful raid on Cedar Keys Through Texas "' (Fehrenbach 1968:372). harbor, when the crew burned seven small At the same time, the famous raider CSS blockade runners loaded with turpentine and cot­ Alabama was lurking across the Gulf of Mexico ton. The raiders also burned the railroad termi­ preparing to attempt to catch General Bank's nal, several buildings, and flatcars and captured invasion force and destroy the transports. The half the small garrison and its commander. loss of Galveston changed Union plans. USS After 26 January 1862 when it arrived at Hatteras joined Farragut and his reinforcements Berwick, Louisiana, Hatteras had a successful to the remnants of the West Gulf Squadron off cruise and captured a number of blockade run­ Galveston on 6 January, just in time for an en­ ners in less than a year. Most of this action counter with Semmes' Alabama. occurred off Vermilion Bay, as the ships ran Under her first captain, Commander George either toward Havana or Sabine Pass (Navy F. Emmons, Hatteras began her Civil War career Department 1977). In November 1862, Com­ when she joined the South Atlantic Blockading mander Homer C. Blake took command as the Squadron at , Florida, on 13 Novem­ second captain of Hatteras. ber 1861. She served off Apalachicola and Ce­ When Alabama sighted Galveston on 11 dar Keys, Florida, before transferring to the Gulf January 1863, it found not General Bank's trans­ 85 ports but a fleet of warships anchored offshore. is deep enough that scattering of the contents by The crew deduced that the Confederates had re­ wave action should not be significant. captured the town when they saw the fleet lob Treasure hunters discovered the wreck in the a shell that burst over the town. One of the mid-1970s and filed an admiralty suit in 1978 Union ships stood out to investigate the stranger. (U.S. District Court nd). The Navy won the law­ Semmes lured Hatteras away from the support suit since naval vessels always remain govern­ of her sisterships, and just after dark a sharp but ment property, and they are not available for brief battle took place (Semmes 1962). The re­ commercial salvage. As litigation proceeded to ports of this action by the two captains, ex-col­ the court of appeals and back, the Bureau of leagues in the pre-war Navy, appear in Arnold Land Management (BLM, from which the MMS and Hudson (1981). later emerged) sponsored two trips to the site USS Morning Light's log recorded heavy fir­ which yielded good remote-sensing data (Arnold ing to the southwest during the 6-8 p.m. watch. and Hudson 1981), and its location was firmly Morning Light was blockading Sabine Pass on fixed with microwave radar positioning. The the Texas-Louisiana border about 80 mi. from THC and the Institute for Nautical Archaeology the scene of the battle (National Archives 1863). at Texas A & M University participated in the The 13-minute battle took place at close BLM projects. During one of these trips archeo­ range, ending when a shell exploded in logical divers attempted to visit the wreck. It Hatteras' engine cylinder and knocked down the was the end of the day, and they could not lo­ walking beam. Whole plates of iron were blown cate the wreck in the fading light; however, away at the waterline. Captain Blake surrendered Donald Keith later succeeded. with his ship on fire and rapidly sinking and The MMS's renewed interest in Hatteras Alabama maneuvering to rake it. Hatteras suf­ began as a cooperative study effort with the fered two dead and five wounded, while Ala­ THC in 1992. The MMS was specifically inter­ bama had two injured and very light damage. ested in the wreck because of its proximity to Alabama launched her boats and helped take off existing oil production platforms (less than 1 Hatteras' crew, who were later paroled at Port mi.) and the potential impact of oil and gas de­ Royal, Jamaica. The morning after the battle, velopment upon it. In 1992 the two agencies USS found the wreck sitting upright in initiated a program of site monitoring and map­ 9-1/2 fathoms of water with its masts visible ping that continued in 1993 and 1994. They above the waves. In relation to potential artifacts conducted dives at the site on two days in 1992 at the site, Captain Blake mentioned an extra and 1993. The first year's dives were for famil­ gun, a 30-pound Parrot rifle. Semmes mentioned iarization and preliminary mapping of surface yet more guns on Hatteras: a second, similar remains. In 1994, bad weather shortened the trip Parrot, and a 12-pound howitzer. to one day of diving. The second and third years' dives included the beginning of measuring The Shipwreck Site's History for a site plan and placing a sediment meter. From 1992 to 1994 sediment levels remained Historical research so far reveals no salvage fairly constant, and there was no apparent distur­ contemporary with Hatteras' sinking. Since it bance of the site. went down very quickly, there was likely no Comparing the condition of the site today time for removing even personal possessions. with slides provided by Donald Keith reveals The site may contain the fully-intact remains of one noticeable major change. In the 1970s, there the ship and its equipment. There has been con­ were upright engine components described by siderable deterioration of the hull and organic the treasure hunters as the steam condenser. It objects above the sediment, but the site's ar­ may have been the valve assembly, but in any chaeological potential is tremendous. The water case the structure has now been knocked down, probably by a shrimp trawl. 86

USS Hatteras 41GV68

FIGURE 3. Three-dimensional plot of the magnetometer data from USS Hatteras. (Surfer for Windows softwareprovided by Golden Software.)

The Artif ac ts Advocate General's Office, the THC hopes to have the artifacts in a museum soon. The treasure hunters removed artifacts from the wreck and turned them over to the court as Conclusion part of their salvage claim, including a builders' plate marked "Harlan and Hollingsworth and The wreck of USS Hatteras is an integral Co., Iron Ship and Steam Engine Builders, no. part of the story of the Civil War on the Texas 327, Wilmington, Delaware, 1861," two small coast. The remains of an unsalvaged, fully­ bronze oil cups with covers, a brass steam valve, equipped naval vessel are expected to be found two large bronze priming cups (one with at­ at this site, making it one of the most important tached pipe stem), an oiling pipe stem, and an underwater archeological sites in the country. iron ball with eye weighing ca. 45 pounds. The responsible agencies continue to monitor the These artifacts have languished with the court site's condition on a regular basis. "Historians records since 1983 when the case was decided generally regard the defense of the Texas coast in the government's favor. With the help of the and borders as one of the greatest military feats Naval Historical Center and the Navy Judge of the Confederacy" (Fehrenbach 1968). 87

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS KEEGAN. JoHN 1989 The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval We greatly appreciate the loan of DGPS equipment by Warfare. Viking, New York. Trimble Navigation, Inc. (Ken Woolnough, Steve Davis, and Joe Morgan). Thanks also go to Golden Software, Inc. NATIONAL ARCHIVES for providing a copy of Surfer for Windows used to produce 1863 Log of USS Morning Light. the magnetometer data plots. US Divers, Inc. (George Roseberry) and Tom's Dive & Ski (Warren Roseberry and NAVYDEPARTMENT Janice Roseberry) are thanked for the loan of diving equip­ 1977 Dictionaryof American Naval Fighting Ships. Volume ment. Thanks to volunteer computer expert and diver Bill III. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval Pierson, to Don Harper and Tom Iliffe and their students at History Division, Washington, D.C. Texas A & M University (Galveston) for their help as volunteer divers and to Dick Zingula for underwater pho­ NEYLAND. ROBERT s. tography. The original version of this manuscript was l993 The Naval War for the North Texas Coast. In prepared by J. Barto Arnold Ill for the Maritime Initiative of Underwater Archaeology Proceedingsfrom the Society the National Park Service with funding from the DOD for Historical Archaeology Conference, edited by Legacy Resource management program via the Naval Sheli 0. Smith, pp. 115-122. Kansas City, Missouri. Historical Center. SEMMES. RAPHAEL References 1962 The Confederate Raider Alabama; Selections from Memoirs of Service Afloatduring the War between the III States. Fawcett Publications, Inc., Greenwich, ANUSKIEWICZ, RICHARD J .• AND J. BARTO ARNOLD Connecticut. l 992 USSHatteras:An Assessmentand Monitoring Report. Prepared forMinerals Management Service.Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, . SILVERSTONE,PAUL H. 1989 Warships of the Civil War Navies. Naval Institute ARNOLD, J. BARTO III Press,Annapolis, . 1993 Matagorda Bay Surveys: Applications oflnexpensive Satellite Navigation.International Journal of Nautical SNYDER. LAURA Archaeology 22 (l): 79-87. 1938 The Blockade of the Texas Coast during the Civil War. Thesis presented to the facultyof the Graduate ARNOLD. J. BARTO III, AND JACK HUDSON Division of the Texas Technological College in partial 1981 The USS Hatteras: A PreliminaryReport on Remote fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Sensing Data and Litigation. In In the Realms of Gold: Masterof Arts. The Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on edited by Wilburne A. Underwater Archaeology, U.S. DISTRICTCOURT FOR THE SOUTHERNDISTRICT OF TEXAS. Cockrell, pp. 3-15. Fathom Eight, San Marino, California. GALVESTONDIVISION nd Hatteras, Inc. Plaintiff v. The USS Hatteras, her engines, armament, apparel, cargo, appurtenances, FEHRENBACH, T. R. etc.in rem, and United States of America, in personam 1968 Lone Star: A Historyof Texasand Texans. American Defendants.Civil Action No. G-78-77. Legacy Press,New York.

WILBUR.CURTISD., SECRETARY OF THENAVY GOVERNMENTPRINTING 0FFJCE 1897 OfficialRecords of the Union and ConfederateNavies 1927 Official Recordsof the Union and ConfederateNavies in theWar ufRebellion. GovernmentPrinting Office, in the War of the Rebellion. Series II, Volume I. Washington, D.C. J. BARTO ARNOLD III HOWARTH. STEPHEN TEXAS HISTORICALCOMMISSION 1991 ToShining Sea: A Historyof the , P.o. Box 12276 1775-1991. Random House, New York. AUSTIN,TEXAS 78711

RICHARD J. ANUSKIEWICZ MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE 1201 ELMWOODPARKBLVD. NEW0RLEANS.LoUISIANA 70123-2394