''Carolina'', also known as ''Caroline'', was an

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 state ...

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which ar ...

that tried to leave

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Gal ...

by breaking through a federal blockade. The ship was last carrying cotton and sank in 1864 in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

. On March 9, 2009, contractors looking for debris from Hurricane Ike reported the discovery of the shipwreck after using sonar.www.chron.com "Ike may have uncovered Carolina"
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References

Sailing ships Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Maritime incidents in 1864 {{ship-stub