TThe UAB staff
approached Rob
Williams, owner of
Patriot Dive Center in
Wilmington, and asked if
he would train volunteers
to help map the wreck,
and to recruit them as
ambassadors to spread the
word about respecting the
historic importance.
“One of the things that
we are big advocates for is
the aquatic environment
in general, because that
houses the world that we
like to explore,” Williams
says. “So we teach all of
our students, all of our
customers, to respect it
and take care of it. One
of the biggest focuses
with the Condor project
is that these shipwrecks
belong to the people, the
residents, the divers to
explore. With the next
hurricane, or in the next
100 years, they might not
be here anymore. If we
simply teach respect and
spark an interest in the
history, and provide them the ease of being able to explore these
wrecks, I think people will enjoy and appreciate them and pre-serve
COURTESY OF UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY BRANCH
An 1857 map shows the location of several shipwrecks around Fort Fisher,
showing why the area around the mouth of the Cape Fear River could be
called the “graveyard of the Civil War.”
them for hopefully many more generations.”
Along with providing education, dive shops will also offer the
maps that show what the underwater museum visitor is looking at.
“One of the nice things about having the map giving points
of interest is for newer divers, or people not familiar with
wrecks, it gives a simple layout of the boat,” says Heather
Williams, Patriot’s retail manager and Rob’s wife. “I had a
pleasure boat, but that doesn’t mean I understand the vastness
of a Civil War ship, or where the wheelhouse is, or what the
purpose of a column was. If I have the slate that says what the
purpose was, it helps explain the historical significance as well as
give detail to what you are seeing in a very easy-to-understand
68
WBM june 2017
format. It’s a matter of
reading the slate, seeing
what’s in front of you and
matching.”
The North Carolina
coast is known as the
“Graveyard of the
Atlantic,” especially
around the Outer Banks.
Down here, the waters
off the coast, especially
in and around the mouth
of the Cape Fear River,
could be called the
“graveyard of the Civil
War.”
“Right here, around
Fort Fisher, we have the
best collection of Civil
War shipwrecks of any-where
in the world,”
Morris says.
Most of them are
blockade runners, many
of them run aground
intentionally under pur-suit
by Union vessels.
“They’d beach ’em,”
Morris says. “It was such
a profitable enterprise
that, usually after one
trip, you could pay for
your ship that you’d had
custom built. You didn’t just bring in beans and bullets. There
was a percentage that had to go to the Confederate war effort,
but for your troubles you could bring in whatever you wanted
to and sell them to whoever had money. You’d see a real strati-fication
of goods brought it. You’d have stuff that would sell
on the docks, good whiskey and nice clothes and Paris fash-ions
for the ladies in the plantation society that could afford
it. They were shrewd businessmen. These guys lived large.”
The Condor is the closest and most accessible, but the UAB
has documented another couple of dozen wrecks. The UAB
hopes to turn all of them, along with shipwrecks farther up the
coast, into heritage dive sites.
“Eventually, we’ll create a dive trail around the state, and just
teach people how much history we’ve got,” Stratton says.
For more information on Rose Greenhow and the sinking of Condor, see “Eternal Garden: Grace & History at Oakdale Cemetery”
by Sandra Chambers in the November 2007 Wrightsville Beach Magazine, “The Gathering Storm” by Dr. Chris E. Fonvielle Jr. in
February 2008, and “The Lady Was a Spy” by Dr. Fonvielle in September 2014.