The crate was originally curated by the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina which then donated the crate to Georgia. In 2007, Delta Air Lines x-rayed the crate but didn't find anything because of the concretion that had formed around the rifles while under water.
Hand tools were used to separate the rifles which were secreted together since most of the wooden crate was gone., but the tin and lead lining remained. One end of the crate was damaged, evidently from when the Stono sank. They were placed in alternating butt to muzzle position.
.
A pattern 53 Enfield rifle in rough condition can go for a few hundred dollars and rarer ones for around $10,000.
It is likened to the cargo of the blockade-runner Modern Greece which ran aground off the Fort Fisher.
--Old B-Runner
Showing posts with label CSS Stono. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CSS Stono. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2015
Crate of Blockade-Runner Rifles Found at Charleston-- Part 1
From the December 18, 2013, Civil War Picket Blog "rare crate of Civil War rifles yields picture of daring Civil War blockade runner" by Phil Gast.
A carefully-constructed box of British-made Enfield rifles which were sunk along with the CSS Stono (former USS Isaac P. Smith) in Charleston Harbor on June 5, 1863. The time capsule consists of Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle muskets.
There are twenty of them (the Enfields were the second-most widely used rifles during the war, second only to the Springfields). There are only three-known intact cases of the single-shot weapon known to exist.
The iron rifle bands, locks and bayonets are heavily deteriorated from the over 150-years submerging in salt water.. But the walnut stocks are in "tremendous shape." Brass components like the butt plates, trigger guards and nose caps are in good shape.
--Old B-Runner
A carefully-constructed box of British-made Enfield rifles which were sunk along with the CSS Stono (former USS Isaac P. Smith) in Charleston Harbor on June 5, 1863. The time capsule consists of Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle muskets.
There are twenty of them (the Enfields were the second-most widely used rifles during the war, second only to the Springfields). There are only three-known intact cases of the single-shot weapon known to exist.
The iron rifle bands, locks and bayonets are heavily deteriorated from the over 150-years submerging in salt water.. But the walnut stocks are in "tremendous shape." Brass components like the butt plates, trigger guards and nose caps are in good shape.
--Old B-Runner
Monday, January 27, 2014
USS Isaac Smith/ CSS Stono
Last week, I wrote about the crate of Enfield rifles that were recovered from the CSS Stono, a shipwreck in Charleston Harbor, SC. It had been the Union ship Isaac Smith before its capture and it was sunk as a Confederate blockade runner attempting to run into Charleston.
As the Isaac Smith: In January 1862, it joined in an expedition to Savannah and then March to April operated off St. Augustine, Florida. From May to July, it was in the St. John's River by Jacksonville, Florida. In August it went to New York City for repairs and then to the Stono River, South Carolina, until January 30, 1863 when it was captured after being trapped in a crossfire between Confederate shore batteries. It was disabled and 8 killed and 17 wounded before surrendering.
It served in the Confederate Navy in Charleston after that and was wrecked on the breakwater by Fort Moultrie while attempting to run the blockade into the port. The Confederates took what they could off her. The ship and rest of its cargo was burned during the evacuation of Charleston in 1865.
--Old B-Runner
As the Isaac Smith: In January 1862, it joined in an expedition to Savannah and then March to April operated off St. Augustine, Florida. From May to July, it was in the St. John's River by Jacksonville, Florida. In August it went to New York City for repairs and then to the Stono River, South Carolina, until January 30, 1863 when it was captured after being trapped in a crossfire between Confederate shore batteries. It was disabled and 8 killed and 17 wounded before surrendering.
It served in the Confederate Navy in Charleston after that and was wrecked on the breakwater by Fort Moultrie while attempting to run the blockade into the port. The Confederates took what they could off her. The ship and rest of its cargo was burned during the evacuation of Charleston in 1865.
--Old B-Runner
Thursday, January 23, 2014
CSS Stono (USS Isaac Smith)
From Wikipedia.
The CSS Stono was originally the Union vessel USS Isaac Smith. built in 1861 for passenger service on the Hudson River and bought by the U.S. Navy in September 1861.
It was powered by a propeller, weighed 453 tons, 171 feet long, 56 crew and mounted one 30-pdr. Parrott rifle and eight 8-inch Dahlgren smoothbores.
Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Fleet and served from 1861-1862 and captured by the Confederates in 1863 and renamed the CSS Stono. Its fate is unknown according to Wikipedia.
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
The CSS Stono was originally the Union vessel USS Isaac Smith. built in 1861 for passenger service on the Hudson River and bought by the U.S. Navy in September 1861.
It was powered by a propeller, weighed 453 tons, 171 feet long, 56 crew and mounted one 30-pdr. Parrott rifle and eight 8-inch Dahlgren smoothbores.
Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Fleet and served from 1861-1862 and captured by the Confederates in 1863 and renamed the CSS Stono. Its fate is unknown according to Wikipedia.
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
CSS Stono Items on Display
From the Dec. 17, 2013, Columbus (Ind) Republic, AP.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources reports that a collection of Civil War-era artifacts are on display at the Sweetwater Creek State Park. A crate of rifles recovered from the shipwreck of the CSS Stono are housed in an aquarium in the lobby of the visitors center at the park in Lithia Springs where they are draining salt and other contaminants from the guns which were in the water for over a hundred years.
The rifles are traced to the CSS Stono which ran aground in 1863 and was burned later to prevent capture by Union forces. They were found in the 1980s.
--Old B-Runner
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources reports that a collection of Civil War-era artifacts are on display at the Sweetwater Creek State Park. A crate of rifles recovered from the shipwreck of the CSS Stono are housed in an aquarium in the lobby of the visitors center at the park in Lithia Springs where they are draining salt and other contaminants from the guns which were in the water for over a hundred years.
The rifles are traced to the CSS Stono which ran aground in 1863 and was burned later to prevent capture by Union forces. They were found in the 1980s.
--Old B-Runner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)