The Wreck of the USS Harvest Moon

The USS Harvest Moon was the flagship of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The Harvest Moon had steamed up to Winyah Bay from Charleston to inspect Battery White after that city surrendered. After visiting the fort the day before, shortly after 7:00 AM on March 1, 1865, the ship got underway leaving Georgetown with Acting Master John Crosby commanding. At 7:45 AM about three miles southeast by east from Battery White the Harvest Moon struck a torpedo (mine). It blew a hole in the starboard quarter tearing away the main deck above it and the ship sank in about 5 minutes in 2.5 fathoms of water in the bay’s Swash Channel. John Hazard, a wardroom steward, was killed (his body was found the next day). The tug Clover drew alongside and the admiral and his staff boarded and then steamed down to the Nipsic. The Harvest Moon was the only US Navy flagship sunk during the war. Acting Master John Crosby would have the unfortunate distinction of being at the command of two ships sent to the bottom by the Confederacy during the war. The other being the USS Housatonic which was sunk by the Hunley.

As seen in the image above the Harvest Moon was a side-wheel steamer. The characteristics of the ship are summarized from the excellent USS Harvest Moon blog which has everything one ever wanted to know about the ship. She was built in Portland, Maine, by Joseph Dyer, purchased by Spear, Lang and Delano of Boston, and was launched on November 22, 1862. Commodore J. B. Montgomery purchased the 546-ton ship for the US Navy for $99,300 on November 16, 1863. She was fitted out for blockade duty at the Boston Navy Yard and commissioned on February 12, 1864. The 193-foot-long ship mounted six guns: four 24-pounder howitzers; a 12-pounder Parrott rifle and a 20-pounder Parrott rifle. The Harvest Moon drew only 8 feet of water with an average speed of 9 knots with a maximum speed of 15 knots. Two 24-foot-diameter sidewheels were driven by a single cylinder vertical beam engine that was 41 inches in diameter with a 10 foot stroke. The engine was salvaged from a steamer that was lost in the China sea. It was shipped to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then on to Portland Maine where it was rebuilt. Steam was generated in two boilers with a single stack and fired by coal. Feed water was taken directly from outboard the ship and fed to the boilers without treatment.

The images below were taken from Winyah Bay on a commercial boat tour from Georgetown to North Island across Winyah Bay. The smokestack can still be seen above water.