N.C. Underwater Archaeology Branch confirms Pasquotank River shipwreck is CSS Appomattox, steamer torched in 1862
Posted: 11-10-2009 : KURE BEACH, N.C.

KURE BEACH – The CSS Appomattox went down in flames in 1862 as her Confederate crew set her ablaze while fleeing Union forces. A team of volunteer divers has located the Civil War shipwreck and its identity has been confirmed by the Underwater Archaeology Branch, N.C. Office of Archives and History in the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources www.ncculture.com .

A silver-plated spoon inscribed with “J Skerritt” discovered by the divers was critical to establishing the identity of the wreck. The volunteer divers knew that the Appomattox crew was on loan from the Confederate ironclad Virginia. Upon searching the Virginia’s crew list, reference was found to sailor James Skerritt. The divers turned the research over to the state’s underwater archaeologists along with the spoon.

“We were searching for about 10 years,” recalls Philip Madre, who led the team that located the wreck in the Pasquotank River. “In August 2007, we found the boat and the James Skerritt spoon.” Madre had heard of the shipwreck when growing up in the area. His team included his son, Jason Madre, Jason Forbes and Eddie Congleton. They had worked on seven other boats earlier only to learn from Underwater Archaeology Branch experts that none of them was the Appomattox. “When we found this one with the screw propeller and shaft, we felt this one could be it,” Madre said.

CSS Appomattox was part of what was known as the Mosquito Fleet — a collection of small, armed steamers that defended the northeastern North Carolina sounds. It was escaping Federal gunboats after the Battle of Elizabeth City. When it proved too large to get through the locks of the Dismal Swamp Canal, the Confederates torched the steamer rather than have it captured by the Union Navy. Madre says not many artifacts were found among the charred wood, and the Army Corps of Engineers may have removed the front of the vessel while clearing the river in the 1890s.

Volunteer divers can make important contributions to documenting the state’s history and to the state’s collections. By law, all recovered artifacts belong to the state, and divers must obtain permits from the Underwater Archaeology Branch to work in the state’s waters. The spoon and other artifacts recovered from the shipwreck are the property of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources (www.ncculture.com). Eventually they may be exhibited at the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City.

The Underwater Archaeology Branch, within the Office of Archives and History, is an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. The agency’s vision is to be the leader in using the state’s cultural resources to build the social, cultural and economic future of North Carolina. It is now podcasting 24/7 with information about the Department of Cultural Resources, all available at www.ncculture.com.