Posted in South Carolina April 05, 2020 by

155 Years Ago, The U.S.S. Harvest Moon Ship Sank Off The Coast Of South Carolina Where It Remains Today

The waters near the coast in South Carolina are known to harbor sunken vessels. In August of 2000, the famous sunken submarine, the H. L. Hunley, was raised from the floor of the Atlantic where she rested for 136 years after disappearing in February of 1864. But the H. L. Hunley isn’t the only Civil War vessel to sink near the coast of South Carolina.

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A little over a year after the H. L. Hunley disappeared, a side-wheel steam-powered gun boat met an untimely fate just off the coast of Georgetown. The ship measured 193 feet and traveled at a top speed of 15 knots — or just over 17 miles per hour.
Wikimedia Commons/Erik Heyl - From U.S. Navy public domain Photo #: NH 66973 U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph/public domain
The U.S.S. Harvest Moon was used by the Union Navy during the Civil War and had been assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron whose mission was to prevent the Confederate states from trading.
Wikipedia/U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph/Matthew Brady - public domain
The image seen here is from the similar side-wheel steam-powered gun boat, the U.S.S. Hunchback, used during the Civil War by the Union navy. Its crew is gathered on deck for an informal photo.
The U.S.S. Harvest would meet a fate no one could have foreseen when, on March 1, 1865, the ship hit a torpedo mine in the Winyah Bay just off the coast of Georgetown.
Wikimedia Commons/NOAA Photo Library - nerr0315
By March, with the war coming to an end, the ship was en route to Charleston and traveling at a speed of about five miles per hour when the captain and the crew felt a shock and soon noticed the smell of gunpowder.
In under 20 minutes the ship was at the bottom of the bay. All but one crew member survived the incident and were picked up by another vessel.
Wikipedia/Courtesy of Walter McDonald - http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-h/harv-mn.htm
Today, unlike the H. L. Hunley, the U.S.S. Harvest Moon still remains (mostly) underwater at the site where she sank in 1865. At low tide a large portion of the ship's smoke stack can be seen peeking above the water line. In this image captured in 1965, divers examine the remains.
The location of the U.S.S. Harvest Moon is east-southeast of Battery White, the site of a former artillery battery used by the Confederates during the Civil War.
Wikimedia Commons/Ammodramus

Want to know more about the U.S.S. Harvest Moon? Check out the South Carolina Maritime Museum in Georgetown.

Know of another hidden piece of history in South Carolina that we could feature here? Let us know at this link!

Address: Winyah Bay, South Carolina, USA