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USS W. W. Burns (1861)
USS ''W. W. Burns'' was a schooner acquired by the United States Navy in 1861. ''W. W. Burns'' was a wooden-Hull (watercraft), hulled Chesapeake Bay schooner acquired by the U.S. Navy on 13 August 1861 at Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland for use as Rock (geology), stone-laden blockship during the American Civil War. The purchase of ''W. W. Burns'' was one of 22 made at Baltimore in the summer of 1861, and she and the other 21 ships were slated to be loaded with stone, taken to the North Carolina coast, and sunk as blockships off the entrances to the major inlets leading to Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, and Okracoke Sound. The venture was the first of the "stone fleet" projects undertaken by the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, but, due to delays and other problems, it failed. Some of the 22 ships seem to have remained at their anchorages in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and deteriorated late that summer and into the autumn of 1861. The ultimate fate of ''W. W. Burns'' is unre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to prevent the waterway from being used by the defending forces, as in the case of the three old cruisers , and scuttled during the Zeebrugge raid in 1918 to prevent the port from being used by the German navy. An early use was in 1667, during the Dutch Raid on the Medway and their attempts to do likewise in the Thames during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, when a number of warships and merchant ships commandeered by the Royal Navy were sunk in those rivers to attempt to stop the attacking forces. An even earlier use are the six 11th century Skuldelev ships in Roskilde Fjord, sunk to protect Roskilde from northern Vikings. They are now on display in the Viking Ship Museum. The above is the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction. Decades of political controversy over slavery were brought to a head by the victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion into the west. An initial seven southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and, in 1861, forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. Led by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and the surrounding metropolitan region located in the southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina portions of the Tidewater (region), Tidewater Region. Comprising the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC, metropolitan area and an extended combined statistical area that includes the Elizabeth City, North Carolina micropolitan area, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, micropolitan statistical area and Dare County, North Carolina, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, micropolitan statistical area, Hampton Roads is known for its large military presence, ice-free harbor, shipyards, coal piers, and miles of waterfront property and beaches, all of which contribute to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stone Fleet
The Stone Fleet consisted of a fleet of aging ships (mostly whaleships) purchased in New Bedford and other New England ports, loaded with stone, and sailed south during the American Civil War by the Union Navy for use as blockships. They were to be deliberately sunk at the entrance of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina in the hope of obstructing blockade runners, then supplying Confederate interests. Although some sank along the way and others were sunk near Tybee Island, Georgia, to serve as breakwaters, wharves for the landing of Union troops, the majority were divided into two lesser fleets. One fleet was sunk to block the south channel off Morris Island, and the other to block the north channel near Rattlesnake Shoals off the present day Isle of Palms in what proved to be failed efforts to block access the main shipping channels into Charleston Harbor.Spence 1995, pp. 142–152, 159–164 History Various old ships, specifically purchased by the Navy for this purpose, were loa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okracoke Sound
Ocracoke Hyde County maintains the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department located on Highway 12. Economy Tourism The economy of Ocracoke Island is based almost entirely on tourism. During the winter, the population shrinks and only a few businesses remain open. During the spring, summer, and early fall, an influx of tourists occupies hotels, campgrounds and weekly rental houses—and day visitors arrive by ferry from Hatteras Island. Several bars, a brewery, dozens of restaurants, and many shops, stores and other tourist-based businesses open for the tourist season. Visitors can find many shops that feature local, handmade goods, as well as imported artisanal goods and rare antiques, unusual for such a small island. Fishing Fishing, Commercial fishing contributes to the local economy with chartered sport fishing drawing tourism. With easy access to Pamlico Sound, the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and the Gulf Stream, Ocracoke offers various fishing opportunities, from small So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
