darkwaterdiver

Every now and then! :wink:

Welcome to the forum. Where in SC are you located?

Robert
 

Moncks Corner, about 30 miles from Charleston. Mostly dive the Cooper River.
 

I realize this is an old post but I am curious as well. Who else dives sc rivers? I dive pee see river and lumber river. Looking for dive buddies that may be interested in rivers as well.
 

Where is the Pee See river?
 

Pete...after having driven through there wayyyy too many times, I believe that is the Pee Dee River. While we were commuting back and forth between Chesapeake Bay and Sebastian my wife, who is a native of Aiken, SC, told me several times that "the Pee Dee River was the original river for Stephen Foster's song "Old Folks at Home" (commonly known by its first line, "Way down upon the Swanee River"). Why he changed the name of the river in his final version of the song is a subject of much speculation."
(That quote was from Wikipedia Pee Dee River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
 

Sorry. Sometimes auto correct is wrong. It is Pee Dee river. Have any of you guys done any diving on any of them? I found a cradle for a signaling cannon in the little pee dee river over a year ago and trying to find out if and what boats use to patrol it years ago. Also there is the great pee dee river and the little pee dee river. They both join at the bottom of marion county.
 

rbrayfield82 said:
Sorry. Sometimes auto correct is wrong. It is Pee Dee river. Have any of you guys done any diving on any of them? I found a cradle for a signaling cannon in the little pee dee river over a year ago and trying to find out if and what boats use to patrol it years ago. Also there is the great pee dee river and the little pee dee river. They both join at the bottom of marion county.
Click to expand...


Well, for starters, there are THREE different CSS Pee Dee's that could be candidates. One is a gunboat scuttled by the Confederates after the evacuation of Charleston. This is said to have occurred on the West side of the Great Pee Dee river near the current I-95 overpass. The other two CSS Pee Dees (you have to admire the creativity of the CSS authorities in naming their vessels !), were scuttled near Mars Bluff on the Pee Dee. At least one has been found. Here are a couple of links : Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks - W. Craig Gaines - Google Books

Archaeologists find Civil War shipwreck in Pee Dee

South's drought-ravaged rivers reveal long-hidden mysteries | savannahnow.com | Savannah Morning News


That is not my neck of the woods and I have done no research on that area, but the Pee Dee was fairly heavily used as a conduit to ferry merchandise and supplies to and from Georgetown/ Winyah Bay and the farms and plantations in the state's interior. There are probably quite a number of wrecks, both large and small, in that river system.
 

I was told by my grandfather 20 years ago where one of the CSS Pee Dee was and the local news asked for info on it cause the protected area was 2 miles above and below hwy 76. They wanted to narrow the search and the river is unpredictable and unforgiving. I showed them where I thought it was and the water was low and you could still see the ribs of the ship. There are still cannons there now. I know where one cannon is as it was salvaged about the same time my grandfather showed me where it was. That river is one that I would love to rent or purchase a cheap used magnetometer and a side scan sonar. There is a German submarine that was recovered from that same river. Why would there be several CSS Pee Dee's. that's crazy. How could I find out about other rivers that had ships on it?
 

rbrayfield82 said:
I was told by my grandfather 20 years ago where one of the CSS Pee Dee was and the local news asked for info on it cause the protected area was 2 miles above and below hwy 76. They wanted to narrow the search and the river is unpredictable and unforgiving. I showed them where I thought it was and the water was low and you could still see the ribs of the ship. There are still cannons there now. I know where one cannon is as it was salvaged about the same time my grandfather showed me where it was. That river is one that I would love to rent or purchase a cheap used magnetometer and a side scan sonar. There is a German submarine that was recovered from that same river. Why would there be several CSS Pee Dee's. that's crazy. How could I find out about other rivers that had ships on it?
Click to expand...

Click on the link to Gaines' Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. One of the CSS Pee Dees was a gunboat, one was a steamer and the other a torpedo boat. I don't know why a little more creativity was not exercised in the naming of the vessels, perhaps regional pride played a part. After the fall of Port Royal in Nov. 1861, the Union had firm control of the coastal waters of South Carolina, and the Confederates had to concentrate what shipping they had (and later built) in the interior waterways where shore batteries and field artillery could be used to protect them from the Federal Navy. The Pee Dee was one such waterway.

As far as other rivers in South Carolina...well...if it is a navigable river, it almost certainly has sunken ships/ boats on it. In colonial and antebellum coastal South Carolina, the inland waterways were the main conduit for the shipping of indigo, rice and cotton...the life blood of the region's economy. In most coastal areas, transportation was easier by water than by land...therefore ships and boats were used.

By the way, I am sure you realize this, but you need to be very careful about the legalities involved in attempting any sort of salvage operation, if that is what you intend.

Here is a nice little historical summary of navigation on the Pee Dee system from the US Army Corps of engineers:

from US Army Corps of engineers navigational study.pngclick to enlarge

RootsWeb: SCROOTS-L Great Pee Dee River Basin
 

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Jolly Mon you have a lot of good info on shipwrecks. I have a little bit more to add. Brayfield if you are thinking about salvaging the CSS Pee Dee, forget it. In 1926 the propellors were salvaged by Ellison Capers and Max Gregg. In 1954 the rest of the ship was salvaged and put on display at the Border Tourist Center. The artifacts were not properly conserved and they just rusted away. When they built the I-95 overpass they covered whats left with fill.
 

That was interesting information. I'm interested in locating and finding sunken ships/boats, but I also realize the laws play a role in it as well. That's why I sent the cradle to Columbia to find out more information on it and to put it with a named vessel. I didn't know it was a cradle until they contacted me with it. Thanks for all of your help.
 

Salvor6. You both have very good information. I'm not interested in salvaging the CSS Pee Dee. It is protected by state courts. However the ship I showed the archeologist several years back was the most recent found on the big pee dee river. I mostly dive the little pee dee because the big pee dee is always up and down and when I tried before, there were logs at mid depth moving with current. Thanks from everybody.
 

rbrayfield82 said:
That was interesting information. I'm interested in locating and finding sunken ships/boats, but I also realize the laws play a role in it as well. That's why I sent the cradle to Columbia to find out more information on it and to put it with a named vessel. I didn't know it was a cradle until they contacted me with it. Thanks for all of your help.
Click to expand...

Here is a link to Historic Map Works' 1825 edition of Mill's Atlas of South Carolina:
Historic Atlas: South Carolina State Atlas 1825 Surveyed 1817 to 1821 aka Mills's Atlas South Carolina - Historic Map Works
It is organized by district and the images can be enlarged to show exceptional detail. There are many old ferry sites shown on the maps as well as major plantation sites. If a plantation site is shown close to a river, there is a good chance a wharf may at one time have been associated with it. Near the coast, any area where deeper water is not separated from dry land by a large strectch of salt marsh is a likely candidate to have had a wharf at one time. Google Earth is a very nice tool in this regard. Many ships and boats were sunk at or near wharves during hurricanes and other storms. In South Carolina, old palmetto tree pilings can last a very long time. They are usually a dead give away that maritime activity was being carried on there in the past. Anyway, sorry to be so long winded !!!

Good Luck !!
 

You ever in need of a dive buddy? I live near loris. I dive little pee dee and lumber river as well as saltwater. Have always wanted to dive cooper but didn't know anyone around there to dive it.
 

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