From the Jan. 26th Houston Chronicle. "Permanently mark Confederate warship"
Well, technically, a blockade-runner was not a warship.
Just beneath the surface of the Navidad River in Texas, about three miles from Lolita and two miles from the confluence of the Navidad and Lavaca rivers, is the wreck of a ship sunk by the Confederates to hinder Union boats during the Civil War.
Unfortunately, that ship is still there and poses a dangerous obstacle to boating traffic. This past January 1st, it claimed the life of David Martin who died when his 14-foot aluminum boat struck it.
The wreck is on the National Register of Historic Places and the belief is that it should either be destroyed or permanently marked. The wreck is that of the Mary Summers, an ironclad steamer built in England in 1833 that was once a slave ship, but bought by the Confederacy for use to run the blockade.
So far, attempts at marking the ship have been futile as buoys have either been stolen or washed away.
The paper says that wrecks along the Texas coast are not unusual. There are some in the Sabine River that are not marked, but are above the waterline so can be seen.
Hoping They Can get the Wreck Marked. --Old B-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
Showing posts with label Mary Summers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary Summers. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Man Dies After Running Into Blockade-Runner
Lots of accounts yesterday out of Texas about the upcoming funeral services for David Martin, 62, who was out fishing when his 14-foot aluminum boat struck the wreck of the Confederate blockade-runner Mary Summers in the Navidad River near Victoria.
His death has been ruled an accidental drowning. He hit it Jan 1st, but his body wasn't found until the 3rd.
A low tide had exposed about a foot of the Summers and it has been struck before. Unfortunately, efforts to mark it have failed. The ship is a recognized archaeological site by the National Register of Places.
It was built in England in 1833 and used as a slave ship at one time before being purchased by the Confederate government.
NOT AN IRONCLAD
Pretty much every source I looked at referred to the Summers as being an ironclad which usually refers to a warship sheathed in iron. It might have been a steel or iron-plated blockade-runner.
I have not found any mention of the Mary Summers anywhere else, but will continue looking.
When Fishing, Watch Out for Those Sunken Blockade-Runners. --Old B-R
His death has been ruled an accidental drowning. He hit it Jan 1st, but his body wasn't found until the 3rd.
A low tide had exposed about a foot of the Summers and it has been struck before. Unfortunately, efforts to mark it have failed. The ship is a recognized archaeological site by the National Register of Places.
It was built in England in 1833 and used as a slave ship at one time before being purchased by the Confederate government.
NOT AN IRONCLAD
Pretty much every source I looked at referred to the Summers as being an ironclad which usually refers to a warship sheathed in iron. It might have been a steel or iron-plated blockade-runner.
I have not found any mention of the Mary Summers anywhere else, but will continue looking.
When Fishing, Watch Out for Those Sunken Blockade-Runners. --Old B-R
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