On March 19, 1863, the Confederate States Navy steamship SS Georgiana sank. The steamer was created in 1862 for use in the American Civil War. However, it was never actually used in battle. The SS Georgiana’s maiden voyage was to Charleston, South Carolina, where it was built in Scotland. It was intended to have sixteen mounted guns and carry upwards of 400 tonnes of cargo, albeit its maiden voyage was traveled without such artillery, a turn of events that would help seal the steamer’s fate.

The SS Georgiana ran into trouble once it neared Charleston. The crew attempted to dodge a nearby Federal Blockading Squadron, but a racing yacht in close proximity to the brewing situation spotted the steamer and used signal flares to call in the squadron’s remaining fleet. The Confederate ship’s crew knew they were outnumbered and out-armed. Once escape was no longer feasible, the SS Georgiana was scuttled, or intentionally sunk, and burned by the captain in order for him and the crew to avoid capture.

The wreck of the SS Georgiana was discovered in 1965 by E. Lee Spence, an underwater archaeologist, in Charleston’s harbor. The steamer’s discovery is considered to be of significant historical and archaeological importance: historically due to its role in the Civil War and archaeologically because the wreck site actually houses the hulls of two sunken ships, the SS Georgiana and the SS Mary Bowers. The two ships are distinctly different despite having been built within only two or so years of each other, a fact which offers underwater archaeologists like Spence a wealth of information.