After it was condemned and sold, it was renamed for the admiral and then for the next three years carrying troops and government supplies along the Atlantic coast. I was unable to determine if the Admiral DuPont was owned by the Federal government or privately owned and chartered to the government.
On June 8, 1865, it was carrying troops from New York City to Fort Monroe in Virginia when it collided with the British sailing ship Stundaconda off Cape May and sank. Captain Simon Peppers and all but 20 men survived. I have come across about three different spellings of the Stundaconda. Most likely, the actual name of the ship appears to be the Satacona.
It happened at night and the Stundaconda was ailing from Philadelphia to St. John, New Brunswick, when it struck the Admiral DuPont broadside. The Admiral DuPont sank in ten minutes.
The wreck lies in about 150 feet of water about 32 miles from Cape May., New Jersey.
--Old B-R'er
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