USS ''Amazon'' was a wooden-hulled bark of 318 tons that had previously sailed as a

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

out of

Fairhaven, Massachusetts Fairhaven (Massachusett: ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor wi ...

. During the beginning of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, she was one of the older vessels and hulks chosen by the

Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...

to be sunk in selected waterways and harbors of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

in order to create underwater obstructions and hazards that could damage and prevent Confederate ships from attempting to "run" the

Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlanti ...

Purchased in Massachusetts in 1861

During the first year of the American Civil War, she was purchased for $3,675 by the Union Navy at Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on 30 October 1861, for the

Stone Fleet The Stone Fleet consisted of a fleet of aging ships (mostly whaleships) purchased in New Bedford and other New England ports, loaded with stone, and sailed south during the American Civil War by the Union Navy for use as blockships. They were to ...

.''Treasures of the Confederate Coast: the "real Rhett Butler" & Other Revelations'' by

Dr. E. Lee Spence Edward Lee Spence (born November 1947) is a pioneer in underwater archaeology who studies shipwrecks and sunken treasure. He is also a published editor and author of non-fiction reference books; a magazine editor (''Diving World'', ''Atlantic C ...

, (Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, 1995) , p. 146

Assigned to the stone fleet

''Amazon'' was to be laden with stone and sunk as an obstruction blocking the channel of

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. She took on 325 tons of stone which had been purchased from nearby farms and sailed south on 20 November with the first contingent of stone whalers. Upon her arrival at Savannah early in December, she found that the defenders of that port had themselves, already blocked the channels of the harbor with sunken hulks in the hope of barring the approach of a Northern invasion fleet. Since the mission of the Yankee whalers at Savannah had already been carried out—albeit by Confederate forces -- ''Amazon'' and her sister ships moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where they were sunk across Charleston's main channel on 19 and 20 December 1861.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amazon Ships of the Union Navy Barques of the United States Navy Ships of the Stone Fleet Whaling ships Maritime incidents in December 1861 Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast