Dozens of vessels are resting out their days there, most for economic reasons. You can't just call the local garbage truck when you can no longer use a ship.
At Eagle island, there are nearly two dozen barges, the tugboat Minnesota and the stern paddle-wheeler H. G. Wright which served as a shag boat. Several old ship yards are in the marshy land as well.
A CIVIL WAR CONNECTION
Nothing can be seen of the Waccamaw, a 120-foot steamer originally called the Nuestro Senora de Regla, which was built in New York City in 1861 and intended for use around Cuba.
However, on its maiden voyage, it ran into trouble off the South Carolina and eventually ended up in the service of the US Navy as the USS Commodore Hull. It was active in the Albemarle Sound area.
After the war, it sailed on the Cape Fear River as a freight/passenger ship called the Waccamaw. On September 6, 1886, it caught fire and burned to the waterline. It was not in use at the time so one has to wonder. It lies beneath the mud now.
Almost Forgotten, But, Not. --Old B-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
