The Jan. 18, 2009, HMdb, Historical Marker database focused on Fort Moultrie, Charleston, SC, which has the grave of Seminole chief Osceola who died at the fort Jan. 30, 1838.
There is also a marker for USS Monitor Patapsco which was sunk in Charleston Harbor Jan. 15, 1865, (the same day Fort Fisher, NC, fell) after hitting a Confederate mine. Sixty-two members of the 105 officers and enlisted died. Five are buried on the fort's grounds.
The Patapsco was a Passaic-class monitor, commissioned Jan. 2, 1863 and joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, taking part in the shelling of Fort McAllister and Fort Sumter. Its armament consisted of 1 x 15 inch smoothbore and 1 X 8 inch Parrot rifle. It was 241 feet long and had a 46 foot beam.
On the evening it sank, it was providing support for scout and picket boats clearing the harbor of obstructions and torpedoes.
And, I'd never Heard of This Ship Before. --B-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
