1865 — June 8, fog, steamer Admiral Dupont hit/sunk by Studacona (UK), off Cape May, NJ-17

— 17 Blanchard. We choose to follow the precise accounting provided by Supervising Inspector
of Steamboats in Annual Report for 1865.

–15-20 Gaines. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. 2008, 108.
–15-20 Heyl, Erik. Early American Steamers. 1953, p. 3.
–15-20 NYT. “Real Fate…Transport Admiral Dupont…Run by…Ship Stadaconda,” 6-11-1865.
–15-20 NYT. “Events in 1865; Chronicle of Noteworthy Occurrences for the Year.” 12-30-1865, p. 2.
— 17 Supervising Inspector of Steamboats. Report of the Supervising Inspector… 1865, p214.

Narrative Information

AquaExplorers.com: Map entitled “New Jersey Chart of Southern Shipwrecks,” shows the Dupont site off the southern coast of NJ. (AquaExplorers.com)

Gaines: “New Jersey….Admiral Du Pont (Angelina) (Anglia) (Anglica). U.S. Side-wheel steamer, 210 bulk tons, 473 gross tons, 201 registered tons, 750 tons. Length 195 feet, bean 28 feet, depth 12 feet 6 inches. Cargo of government supplies. Built in 1847 at West Ham, England. En route from New York City to Fort Monroe, VA. Was the former British blockade-runner Anglia captured by the USS Flag in Bull’s Bay, S.C., on October 27, 1862. Collided with the British vessel Stodacona off cape May on June 8, 1865, and sank, with the loss of fifty to twenty crew members. (OR, ser. 3,5:288 ; Daily Examiner, June 21, 1865; MSV, 3, 239 ; LLC, 288. ).” (Gaines. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. 2008, 108.)

Heyl: “…June 7, 1865 the Admiral DuPont left New York with a small detachment of some forty soldiers returning from their furloughs to their various commands at Fort Monroe [VA]. During the night a very heavy fog was encountered. At 4:20 AM June 8 the ship Stadacona was suddenly seen through a rift in the fog steering on an intercepting course. The helm of the Admiral Dupont was put hard aport, her engines were immediately stopped and then reversed but she had too much headway and the Stadacona drove into the Admiral Dupont’s starboard side, just forward of the wheel-housing.

“The steamer was cut open nearly down to her keel; the fore-mast was carried away and she began to settle fast. The only people of the Admiral Dupont which were saved were those who had happened to be on deck and had jumped over onto the Stadacona. Between fifteen and twenty lives were lost …” (Heyl, Erik. Early American Steamers. 1953, p. 3.)

Lytle and Holdcamper: “Admiral Dupont. 750 [tons]; collided [ship Stadacona]; 6 8 1865. Off Cape May, N.J. (U) [unknown number of lives lost].” (Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. 1952, p. 231 (from Table: “Losses of United States Merchant Steam Vessels, 1807-1867.”)

Supervising Inspector of Steamboats: “On the night of the 7th of June, 1865, the steamer Admiral DuPont left the port of New York for Fortress Monroe, having on board a small detachment of United States troops. On the following morning a dense fog set it. At 4:20 a.m. a sailing vessel was discovered steering nearly in an opposite direction. The engine was immediately stopped and backed, and the wheel thrown hard a-starboard, but, at the rate of speed of the sailing-vessel, a collision could not be prevented by those on board of the steamer, which was struck just forward of the paddle-wheel, and sunk in about three minutes. The greatest part of the passengers and crew were saved by getting on board of the ship, which proved to be the English ship Stadoconda. There were 17 persons drowned, viz: 15 soldiers, one fireman, and a colored woman.” (Report of the Supervising Inspector of Steamboats, Second Supervising District. 1865, p. 214.)

U.S. Naval Historical Center: “Anglia, a 473 gross ton iron side-wheel steamship, was built at West Ham, England, in 1847. She was active as a blockade runner in 1862, making a successful round-trip voyage between Nassau, Bahamas, and Charleston, South Carolina, in July-September. A second trip through the blockade ended with her capture in Bulls Bay, S.C., by boats from USS Flag and USS Restless, on 27 October 1862. After adjudication by the U.S. prize court Anglia was sold to new owners, who renamed her Admiral DuPont in January 1863 and employed her until 8 June 1865, when she was sunk in a collision.” (U.S. Naval Historical Center. Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships—Anglia…)

Newspapers

June 10: “Boston, Saturday, June 10. The steamer Admiral Dupont, from New-York for Fortress Monroe, was run into and sunk on the night of the 8th inst., by the British ship Studacona, from Philadelphia for St. John, N.B. The steamer sunk in ten minutes after the collision. The crew and passengers, with the exception of fifteen or twenty, were saved. Capt. Simon Pepper and all the officers of the steamer are safe and have landed at Nantucket, together with other survivors. The names of the lost are as yet unknown.

“The Studacona having sustained considerable damage by the collision, was run ashore on Smith’s Point, Nantucket, where she remains in a bad position. “ (NYT. “Real Fate of…Transport Admiral Dupont…Run by the Ship Stadaconda,” June 11, 1865)

June 10: “The Admiral Dupont was an iron vessel, formerly a blockade-runner, and since her condemnation and sale has been in the government transport service. She sailed last from here on 7th inst., at 4 P.M.” (NY Times. “Probable Loss of Steam Transport Admiral Dupont,” 6-10-1865.)

Sources

AquaExplorers.com. “New Jersey Chart of Southern Shipwrecks.” Accessed 7/31/2010 at: http://www.aquaexplorers.com/shipwrecks%20new%20jersey%20south.htm

Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2008.

Heyl, Erik. Early American Steamers. Buffalo, NY: 1953. Accessed 12-28-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015024193131&view=1up&seq=6&q1=%22admiral%20dupont%22

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=8&size=125

Naval Historical Center, United States Department of the Navy. Online Library of Selected Images: — Civilian Ships. “Anglia (British steamship and blockade Runner, 1847-1865). Renamed Admiral DuPont in 1863.” Washington, DC Naval Historical Center. 9-27-2003. Accessed 12-28-2020 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-civil/civsh-a/anglia.htm

New York Times. “Events in 1865; Chronicle of Noteworthy Occurrences for the Year.” 12-30-1865, p. 2. Accessed 12-28-2020 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1865/12/30/archives/events-in-1865-chronicle-of-noteworthy-occurrences-for-the-year.html

New York Times. “Fate of the Admiral Dupont. She is Run Into by the Ship Studacona, and Sinks Immediately.” 6-12-1865, p. 8. Accessed 12-28-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1865/06/12/80307499.html?pageNumber=8

New York Times. “Probable Loss of Steam Transport Admiral Dupont,” June 10, 1865. At: http://www.nytimes.com/1865/06/10/news/bird-shooters-convention-review-pennsylvania-troops-coroner-s-inquest-probable.html

New York Times. “Real Fate of the Transport Admiral Dupont; She is Run by the Ship Stadaconda,” 6-11-1865. Accessed at: http://www.nytimes.com/1865/06/11/news/real-fate-transport-admiral-dupont-she-run-ship-stadaconda-steamer-sinks-less.html

Supervising Inspector of Steamboats (U.S.). “Report of the Supervising Inspector of Steamboats,” in United States Secretary of the Treasury. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury of the State of the Finances for The Year 1865. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1865. Accessed 12-27-2020 at: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/annual-report-secretary-treasury-state-finances-194/report-secretary-treasury-state-finances-year-1865-5509/report-supervising-inspector-steamboats-302219