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Location: Georgia, USA.         Length: 18 min

On June 3, 1864, a boat force of the Confederate Navy during a daring raid captured the side-wheel steamer USS Water Witch and its crew of 65. After serving as a Federal ship to blockade the Georgia coast, the ship then became the CSS Water Witch. The Confederate Navy later that year scuttled the ship in Georgia’s Vernon River to prevent its recapture. This video documents the ship’s rediscovery by remote sensing during an archaeological survey by the Georgia Department of Transportation preparatory to bridge construction.

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Produced in 2008 by the Georgia Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus, and the Federal Highway Administration.

Federal Highway Administration

Georgia Department of Transportation

National Civil War Naval Museum

Port Columbus Cam (Water Witch replica construction)

Report of Lieutenant Price, C. S. Navy, second in command of expedition (“Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion,” Cornell University)

USS Water Witch (Wikipedia)

USS Water Witch Project (National Civil War Naval Museum)