Exploring Wreck Of Civil War Blockade Runner
Bermuda’s Department of Conservation Services and the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute take viewers on a guided tour of one of the island’s most intriguing shipwrecks in this recently posted video.
An elusive ship of multiple identities, most often operating under the names “Nola”, “Gloria”, “Paramount” and “Montana”, she was a blockade runner during the American Civil War [1861-65] and made trips between England, Bermuda, and North Carolina.
Built in Glasgow, Scotland, this sleek, 236-foot side paddlewheel steamer could run at 15 knots. However, the shallow reefs of Bermuda accomplished what no Union gunboat could do, and she sank in December, 1863. She now lies in 30 feet of water, still partially intact.
The blockade runners were especially designed for speed as well as to avoid detection by Union ships dispatched to cut off all of the Confederacy’s overseas trade during the Civil War.
Designed for speed as well as to avoid detection, they always set sail late at night and usually on moonless nights.
Contemporary illustration of paddle steamer engaged in blockade running during the Civil War [1861-65]
Of the 71 blockade runners which stopped in Bermuda during the war, the Union Navy had captured, sunk or forced the beaching of 43 of them by 1864.
The “Montana” wreck is marked by two steam boilers and two paddlewheel frames lying on their sides. She is adorned with beautiful soft and hard corals.
The wreck was never lost and was always known as a fishing site. She is buoyed as part of the Department of Conservation Services “Bermuda Shipwreck dive sites programme.
The “Montana” sits alongside the “The Constellation” – the World War Two wreck which inspired Peter Benchley’s Bermuda thriller “The Deep” – and with her dramatic paddlewheels is the centre point for the many glass bottom boat, snorkeling and diving tours that visit the area.
This film is part of the Bermuda Shipwrecks Series filmed by Adam Geiger of Sea Light Pictures through a partnership between the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and the Bermuda Government’s Department of Conservation Services.
Read More About
Category: All, Environment, History
