SS Georgiana The Georgiana was a steamer belonging to the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War . Reputed to be the " most powerful " cruiser in the Confederate fleet , she was never used in battle . On her maiden voyage from Scotland , where she was built , she encountered Union Navy ships engaged in a blockade of Charleston , South Carolina , and was heavily damaged before being scuttled by her captain . The wreck was discovered in 1965 and lies in the shallow waters of Charleston ' s harbor . Due to the secrecy surrounding the vessel ' s construction , loading and sailing , there has been much speculation about her intended role , whether as a cruiser , merchantman , or privateer . Specifications . " Georgiana " was a brig - rigged , iron hulled , propeller steamer of with a jib and two heavily raked masts , hull and stack painted black . Her clipper bow sported the figurehead of a " demi - woman " . " Georgiana " was reportedly pierced for fourteen guns and could carry over four hundred tons of cargo . She was built by the Lawrie shipyard at Glasgow - perhaps under subcontract from Lairds of Birkenhead ( Liverpool ) - and registered at that port in December 1862 as belonging to N . Matheson ' s Clyde service . The U . S . Consul at Tenerife was rightly apprehensive of her as being " evidently a very swift vessel . " Captain Thomas Turner , station commodore , reported to Admiral S . F . du Pont that " Georgiana " was evidently " sent into Charleston to receive her officers , to be fitted out as a cruiser there . She had 140 men on board , with an armament of guns and gun carriages in her hold , commanded by a British naval retired officer . " The wreck . The " Georgiana " was lost on the night of 19 March 1863 , while attempting to run past the Federal Blockading Squadron and into Charleston , South Carolina . She had been spotted by the armed U . S . Yacht ( of the famed America ' s Cup racing trophy ) which alerted the remainder of the blockade fleet by shooting up colored signal flares . The " Georgiana " was sunk after a desperate chase in which she came so close to the big guns aboard the that her crew even heard the orders being given on the U . S . vessel . With solid shot passing entirely though her hull , her propeller and rudder damaged , and with no hope for escape , Capt . A . B . Davidson flashed a white light in token of surrender , thus gaining time to beach his ship in fourteen feet ( 4 . 3 m ) of water , three - quarters of a mile ( 1200 m ) from shore and , after first scuttling her , escaped on the land side with all hands ; this was construed as " the most consummate treachery " by the disappointed blockading crew , who would have shared in the proceeds from the prize . Lt . Comdr . John L . Davis , commanding " Wissahickon " decided to set the wreck afire lest guerrilla bands from shore try to salvage her or her cargo : she burned for several days accompanied by large black powder explosions . Discovery . The wreck was discovered by underwater archaeologist E . Lee Spence on March 19 , 1965 . Today the " Georgiana " sits on the bottom with her huge boiler only five feet ( 1 . 5 m ) under the surface . She is now plumed with a wide array of sea fan , sea whips , and living corals . Large sections of the hull are still intact . In places the starboard side of the shattered blockade runner protrudes over nine feet ( 3 m ) from the sand . Under the mud and sand lies the remainder of the hull of the ill - fated warship . On a clear day , skin divers can dive down into the " Georgiana " s immense cargo hold simply by holding their breath . They can swim right past the remaining iron deck supports . The ship ' s deck was white pine and has long since been eaten away . Sea urchins and sea anemone s abound on the wreck . The wreck is frequented by sea bass , grouper , flounder , stingrays , seahorse s , and toadfish . Once in the " Georgiana " s cargo hold , divers can observe heavily encrusted artifacts sitting where they have lain for over one hundred years . Near the forward cargo hatch Spence found boxes of pins and buttons . Spence recovered sundries , munitions , and medicines easily worth over $ 12 , 000 , 000 , but he never found the 350 pounds ( 160 kg ) of gold believed to be hidden on the wreck . The gold could have a numismatic value of over $ 15 , 000 , 000 . Other cargo could bring the " Georgiana " ' s total value to $ 50 , 000 , 000 . Resting on top of the " Georgiana " s shattered wreckage is the remains of the sidewheel steamer " Mary Bowers " , which struck the wreck of the " Georgiana " while attempting to run the blockade into Charleston . Site Importance . This wreck site is extremely important both historically and archaeologically . Historically because of the emphasis both sides ( the Confederates and the Federals ) correctly or incorrectly placed on the " Georgiana " as a potential threat to United States shipping , and archaeologically due to the site containing two distinct types of ships . Both ships were constructed of iron , but one was built with extra reinforcing and relatively deep draft such as would be needed for operation as a privateer on the high seas and the other of extremely light weight and shallow draft that was perfectly suited for the purpose of running the blockade , which required crossing shallow shoals to evade the deeper draft vessels of the blockade fleet . One ( the " Georgiana " ) is a screw steamer and the other ( the " Mary Bowers " ) a sidewheel steamer . The two ships were built and lost in a time span of about two years , making their design differences even more significant . It was for the " Georgiana " / " Mary Bowers " wreck that the first salvage license in South Carolina was granted in 1967 . Hundreds of thousands of individual artifacts were recovered from the site . The first dives by State officials on the site were made in 2010 . It is also important in a literary sense because the " Georgiana " and her cargo were owned by banking and shipping magnate [ George Alfred Trenholm ] of Charleston , who was Treasurer of the Confederacy and the primary historical figure behind the fictional Rhett Butler in " Gone With The Wind " . Confederate Cruiser , Privateer or Merchantman ? Due to the secrecy surrounding her construction , loading and sailing , there is considerable question as to whether the " Georgiana " was simply a merchantman or if she was intended as a privateer or blockade runner . One contemporary report described the " Georgiana " as so lightly built that " she would shake from stem to stern if a gun were fired from her decks . " Historian Stephen Wise describes her as a merchantman and writes " While loading in Liverpool , the Union consul Thomas Dudley carefully investigated the vessel and reported her to be too frail for a warship . He felt her only purpose was to run the blockade . " A United States consular dispatch dated 6 January 1863 stated : " The steamer " Georgiana " , just arrived at Liverpool from the Clyde . She is new and said to be a very superior steamer . · · · Yesterday while lying here she had the Rebel flag flying at her mast . " The London " American " took special note of her in its 28 January 1863 edition as a " powerful " steamer and remarked that her officers wore gold lace on their caps , considered a sure indication she was being groomed for a man - of - war . After the " Georgiana " s loss on 19 March 1863 , the United States Secretary of Navy wrote : " the destruction of the " Georgiana " not only touched their ( the Confederate ' s ) pockets , but their hopes . She was a splendid craft , peculiarly fitted for the business of privateering . " The " New York Times " of 31 March 1863 gave a spy ' s description of the craft as " a superior vessel , · · · built expressly for the rebel navy . " The spy reported that she was " altogether a faster , stauncher , and better vessel than either the " Oreto " ( ) or . " The London " Times " of 8 April 1863 described her as follows : " There is not the least doubt of her being intended as a privateer . " Thomas Scharf ( who had served in the Confederate navy ) , in his Post War reference work " History of the Confederate Navy , " stated : " Apart from her cargo , the loss was a serious one to the Confederacy , as she was a much faster and stronger ship than any one of its cruisers afloat and would have made a superb man - of - war . " Underwater archaeologist E . Lee Spence , who discovered the wreck and identified it as the " Georgiana " , believes that she was indeed intended as a privateer or cruiser due to the naval guns found aboard , her deep draft hull construction , her heavier than standard iron planking , and the closer than normal , doubled up , Z - beam , framing used throughout the vessel .