Blockade Runners Database?

[RedRover]

Has anyone ever seen any estimate of how common or numerous the mostly i assume private smaller sailling runners would been in comparison to the larger more famous steamships?

Never seen an estimate. The US authorities understood the small sailing craft "wildcat" runners were very common, but undocumented, as they frequently avoided a port. The vice-consul of the US at Nassau in the Bahamas, W.C. Thompson, reported the wildcatters slipping in and out of all points of the Bahamas constituted "a very large amount of blockade running done by sailing vessels of which there is no record."

 

[Rhea Cole]

I highly recommend Stephan R. Wise's Lifeline of the Confederacy; Blockade Running During the Civil War.

Wise chronicles the voyages of over 300 vessels. Included are maps that help visualize the navigational challenges that affected runner & blockade alike.

Th illustrations document the rapid evolution of ship design brought on by the specialized needs of the runners.

It is a personal favorite & my copy has numerous postit notes sticking out it like Tibetan prayer flags.

Available online for a pittance.

 

[Rhea Cole]

The blockade runner Modern Greece was run aground & promptly buried with sand & silt. When discovered in shallow water just of a North Carolina beech in 1962. Her cargo was remarkably intact.

Link:

The Modern Greece | NC DNCR

Thought to be lost to history, archaeologists with our organization recovered priceless artifacts from the wreck of this blockade runner. Learn more about naval action in North Carolina during the Civil War and find out to see cool artifacts.

www.dncr.nc.gov

The near 300 page book of the excavation includes hundreds of exacting illustrations. I know of no better way to grasp the quantity & variety of items on Modern Greece's manifest.

You can scroll through the report via this link:

https://ia902808.us.archive.org/33/items/blockaderunnermo00brig/blockaderunnermo00brig.pdf

 

[USS ALASKA]

Is this a picture of the blockade runner Modern Greece? | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

The Modern Greece went ashore off New Inlet attempting a run into Wilmington on the night of 27th June 1862 , she was carrying a valuable cargo the included 1000 Enfield muskets 4 rifled cannon and 100 tons of gunpowder, a lot of this cargo was saved as she grounded under the protection of a...

civilwartalk.com

The Blockade Runner 'Modern Greece' And Her Cargo
Leslie S. Bright

Civil War Blockade Papers | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

For the buyers - a high risk / high return investment opportunity...for the sellers - a way to raise cash for other endeavors. Cheers, USS ALASKA

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA