| Summary |
Civil War erupted in America in 1861. The Union began blockading southern ports to cut off supplies destined for the Confederate States of America. An international network of blockade runners soon developed to supply the southern states. Blockade running became the Confederacy's lifeline. Cargoes smuggled through the blockade were not only limited to war materials; shipments ranging from weapons and tools to jewelry and bonnets were brought from Europe via "neutral" ports in a seemingly endless stream into Confederate ports. As the war progressed, the task of slipping past the Union blockade became increasingly difficult. The majority of blockade runners eventually sank, wrecked, burned or were captured. One such vessel was the steamship Peterhoff. While allegedly attempting to run the blockade, the Peterhoff was captured by the U.S.S. Vanderbilt. An international incident arose concerning the legality of the vessel's seizure. The District Court at New York ruled that the capture of the Peterhoff was legal and condemned both cargo and vessel. The United States Navy then purchased the steamer for $80,000 and commissioned her the U.S.S. Peterhoff. The ship joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and subsequently sank while on duty off the coast of North Carolina in 1864. Three years later, in a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision and ruled that the Peterhoff had indeed been seized illegally. The impact of the Peterhoff case and the high court's ruling influenced the interpretation of international maritime law for generations. The wreck of the Peterhoff was discovered in 1963. Divers found the steamer to be in a remarkable state of preservation and several cannons were removed for the site. In 1975, the vessel became the first shipwreck ever to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In spite of that distinction, no site report existed and no thorough archaeological investigation had ever been conducted on the wreck of the Peterhoff. Such a study is what I sent out to accomplish. Through the Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology Program at East Carolina University, the Institute for International Maritime Research and the North Carolina Division of Archives and History's Underwater Archaeology Unit, a detailed examination of the remains of the Peterhoff was finally conducted in 1997. The project generated a great deal of important archaeological information. A detailed site plan and perspective drawing of the wreck were produced from data collected. The purpose of this thesis is to present an historical treatment and archaeological interpretation of the U.S.S. Peterhoff. |
