CSS ''Curlew'' was an iron-hull North Carolina Sounds

paddlewheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than ab ...

steamboat that was taken into the

Confederate Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American ...

in 1861. It was run aground at

Fort Forrest A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

() and burned in the battle for

Roanoke Island Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of Engli ...

on February 8, 1862. Its wreck was discovered in 1988 and archaeologically investigated in 1994. Gun-boat-fanny

The steamboat

The ''Curlew'' was built in 1856 by the

Harlan & Hollingsworth Harlan & Hollingsworth was a Wilmington, Delaware, firm that constructed ships and railroad cars during the 19th century and into the 20th century. Founding Mahlon Betts, a carpenter, arrived in Wilmington in 1812. After helping construct ma ...

Iron Shipbuilding Company of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christin ...

. It was long, wide, depth of hold, and listed at 236 tons. Its average draft was , which suited the shallow waters of the North Carolina sounds. The steamboat had side paddle wheels that were in diameter by wide. The ''Curlew'' had no figurehead, a round stern, and no mast. A walking beam engine with a diameter cylinder and a stroke powered the new steamer. This type of engine had a distinctive trapezoid-shaped rocker arm mounted between the paddle wheels, which transmitted power from the piston rod to the crank on the paddle wheel shaft. For improved efficiency, the ''Curlew's'' engine was equipped with Sickle's patented cutoff valve. Steam was provided by a two furnace return-flue boiler long, high, and wide, and rated at 30

lbf/in² The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch (symbol: lbf/in2; abbreviation: psi) is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units. It is the pressure resulting from a force of one pound-force applied t ...

(210 kPa) of pressure. It started operating in North Carolina in July 1856. (Olson 1997:30ff)

History

The ''Curlew'' was built for Thomas D. Warren, a doctor and plantation owner from

Edenton, North Carolina Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has ...

. It was operated for passenger and cargo transportation in the

Albemarle Sound Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a bar ...

region, running between Edenton, Hertford,

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It ...

and Nag's Head. The ''Curlew'' also made trips up the

Chowan River The Chowan River (cho-WAHHN)
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Franklin, Virginia Franklin is the southwesternmost independent city in Hampton Roads, Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,180. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Franklin with Southampton County for statistic ...

. Its first captain was Richard Halsey, who was later replaced by Thomas Burbage in 1858.(Olson 1997:34ff) The ''Curlew'' made many trips to the Nag's Head Hotel, which in those days was a popular tourist destination. In 1859 Edward Bruce, an artist and reporter, rode the ship on a trip to Nag's Head and afterwards wrote about it for ''Harper's New Monthly Magazine''. He singled out the ''Curlew'' and its crew for special praise:

We never saw him (Captain Burbage) rave. Always at his post, and always quiet, everything went on like clockwork. No traveler accustomed to the privileged usage on many similar craft would have imagined that one of them could be so well managed with so little damage to the Third Commandment. (Bruce 1859:726f)

After the Civil War broke out, the ''Curlew'' was initially used as a troop transport, ferrying troops and supplies to various defensive works along the North Carolina coast. The ''Curlew'' was acquired by the Confederate Navy after

Hatteras Inlet Hatteras Inlet is an estuary in North Carolina, located along the Outer Banks, separating Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island. It connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pamlico Sound. Hatteras Inlet is located entirely within Hyde County. Histor ...

fell to Union forces in August 1861. It was outfitted with one rifled 32-pounder cannon in the bow and one 12-pounder smoothbore cannon in the stern. Under the command of Thomas T. Hunter (also known as Tornado Hunter) it was involved in the capture of the U.S. Army supply boat ''Fanny'' at Chicamacomico on October 1, 1861. Between October 1861 and February 1862 the ''Curlew'' alternately patrolled

Pamlico Sound Pamlico Sound ( ) is a lagoon in North Carolina which is the largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, extending long and 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of lagoon estuaries that i ...

and harassed Union shipping at Hatteras Inlet. On February 7 the ''Curlew'' and eight other Confederate gunboats attempted to repel the Union invasion of Roanoke Island. During this battle the ''Curlew'' was holed by a shell and run aground to keep from sinking. The next day it was set on fire when the Confederate forces on Roanoke Island surrendered. The remaining Confederate gunboats withdrew to

, where all but two were destroyed or captured on February 10 in the

Battle of Elizabeth City The Battle of Elizabeth City of the American Civil War was fought in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Roanoke Island. It took place on 10 February 1862, on the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Elizabeth City, North C ...

. (Olson 1997:118ff) Afterwards, Captain Hunter commented to another gunboat captain that during the battle he suddenly realized that his pants were gone, even though he knew he put on a pair that morning. (Parker 1985:248f) The ''Curlew's'' engine was salvaged in 1863, after which the wreck was allowed to decay. It was located in 1988 by a group of international divers working for the state of North Carolina's Underwater Archaeological Unit. Its identity was confirmed when one of the divers, Takafumi Yamaguchi, recovered the builders plate. In 1994 the wreck was documented by state divers and students from

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...

. (Olson 1997:150ff)

References

*Christopher Olson, ''An Historical and Archaeological Investigation of the CSS Curlew''; Masters Thesis, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina,1997. *William Parker, ''Recollections of a Naval Officer'', Naval Institute Press, 1985. *Edward Bruce, ''Loungings in the Footprints of the Pioneers,'' Harper's New Monthly Magazine 18 (1860): 726–727.

External links

North Carolina Squadron
- ''Curlew'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Curlew Gunboats of the Confederate States Navy Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Paddle steamers Maritime incidents in February 1862 Ship fires Ships built in Wilmington, Delaware 1856 ships Ships built by Harlan and Hollingsworth