CSS Curlew CSS " Curlew " was an iron - hull North Carolina Sounds paddlewheel steamboat that was taken into the Confederate Navy in 1861 . It was run aground at Fort Forrest ( ) and burned in the battle for Roanoke Island on February 8 , 1862 . Its wreck was discovered in 1988 and archaeologically investigated in 1994 . The steamboat . The " Curlew " was built in 1856 by the Harlan & Hollingsworth Iron Shipbuilding Company of Wilmington , Delaware . It was long , wide , depth of hold , and listed at 236 tons . Its average draft was , which suited the shallow waters of the North Carolina sounds . The steamboat had side paddle wheels that were in diameter by wide . The " Curlew " had no figurehead , a round stern , and no mast . A walking beam engine with a diameter cylinder and a stroke powered the new steamer . This type of engine had a distinctive trapezoid - shaped rocker arm mounted between the paddle wheels , which transmitted power from the piston rod to the crank on the paddle wheel shaft . For improved efficiency , the " Curlew ' s " engine was equipped with Sickle ' s patented cutoff valve . Steam was provided by a two furnace return - flue boiler long , high , and wide , and rated at 30 lbf / in² ( 210 kPa ) of pressure . It started operating in North Carolina in July 1856 . ( Olson 1997 : 30ff ) History . The " Curlew " was built for Thomas D . Warren , a doctor and plantation owner from Edenton , North Carolina . It was operated for passenger and cargo transportation in the Albemarle Sound region , running between Edenton , Hertford , Elizabeth City and Nag ' s Head . It also made trips up the Chowan River to Franklin , Virginia . Its first captain was Richard Halsey , who was later replaced by Thomas Burbage in 1858 . ( Olson 1997 : 34ff ) The " Curlew " made many trips to the Nag ' s Head Hotel , which in those days was a popular tourist destination . In 1859 Edward Bruce , an artist and reporter , rode the ship on a trip to Nag ' s Head and afterwards wrote about it for " Harper ' s New Monthly Magazine " . He singled out the " Curlew " and its crew for special praise : We never saw him ( Captain Burbage ) rave . Always at his post , and always quiet , everything went on like clockwork . No traveler accustomed to the privileged usage on many similar craft would have imagined that one of them could be so well managed with so little damage to the Third Commandment . ( Bruce 1859 : 726f ) After the Civil War broke out , the " Curlew " was initially used as a troop transport , ferrying troops and supplies to various defensive works along the North Carolina coast . The " Curlew " was acquired by the Confederate Navy after Hatteras Inlet fell to Union forces in August 1861 . It was outfitted with one rifled 32 - pound cannon in the bow and one 12 - pound smoothbore cannon in the stern . Under the command of Thomas T . Hunter ( also known as Tornado Hunter ) it was involved in the capture of the U . S . Army supply boat " Fanny " at Chicamacomico on October 1 , 1861 . Between October 1861 and February 1862 the " Curlew " alternately patrolled Pamlico Sound and harassed Union shipping at Hatteras Inlet . On February 7 the " Curlew " and eight other Confederate gunboats attempted to repel the Union invasion of Roanoke Island . During this battle the " Curlew " was holed by a shell and run aground to keep from sinking . The next day it was set on fire when the Confederate forces on Roanoke Island surrendered . The remaining Confederate gunboats withdrew to Elizabeth City , where all but 2 were destroyed or captured on February 10 . ( Olson 1997 : 118ff ) Afterwards , Captain Hunter commented to another gunboat captain that during the battle he suddenly realized that his pants were gone , even though he knew he put on a pair that morning . ( Parker 1985 : 248f ) The " Curlew ' s " engine was salvaged in 1863 , after which the wreck was allowed to decay . It was located in 1988 by a group of international divers working for the state of North Carolina ' s Underwater Archaeological Unit . Its identity was confirmed when one of the divers , Takafumi Yamaguchi , recovered the builders plate . In 1994 the wreck was documented by state divers and students from East Carolina University . ( Olson 1997 : 150ff )