USS Merrimac-- Part 2: Sank in a Bad Storm February 15, 1865

Early in 1865, the USS Merrimac was reassigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron and hot underway early in February.  Bad weather forced the ship into Beaufort, N.C., on the 7th, and Charleston, S.C., on the 12.  Underway for Key West the next day, she encountered even worse weather and turned northward looking for a safe haven.

But, on February 15, 1865, Acting Master William Earle ordered the crew to abandon ship after its tiller was broken and two boilers given out and the pimps unable to  to stop the rising water in the hold.  The crew was rescued by a mail steamer Morning Star and watched that night as the ship disappeared beneath the waves.

However, the department of the Navy has the Merrimac sinking on January 15, 1865.

--Old B-Runner