List of shipwrecks in 1863

The list of shipwrecks in 1863 includes all ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1863.

January

11 January

• USS Hatteras (United States): American Civil War: The gunboat was sunk by CSS Alabama off Galveston, Texas.

Unknown date

• Heinrich Sorensen (Russia): The barque was driven ashore and wrecked at Breaksea Point, Glamorgan, United Kingdom. Her twelve crew were rescued. She was on a voyage from Bordeaux, Gironde, France to Cardiff, Glamorgan.

February

7 February

• HMS Orpheus (Royal Navy) : The Jason-class corvette ran onto a sandbar and was destroyed by waves at Whatipu, Manukau Harbour, New Zealand. There were 189 dead and 70 survivors.

19 February

• Laconic (United Kingdom): The barque was wrecked on the Helwick Shoal, in the Bristol Channel. Her crew survived. She was on a voyage from Swansea to Tenerife, Canary Isles, Spain.

28 February

• Rattlesnake (Confederate States of America): American Civil War: A Confederate privateer sunk by USS Montauk in Ogeechee River, Georgia, USA.

Unknown date

• CSS American Diver (Confederate States Navy): American Civil War: She was a Confederate prototype submarine that sunk in Mobile Bay during February in stormy weather. No lives were lost.

March

5 March

• City of Peterborough (United Kingdom) : She collided with the barque Tuspan (France) about 200 nautical miles (370 km) south of the Isles of Scilly. There were 5 dead and 8 survivors

19 March

• CSS Georgiana (Confederate States Navy): American Civil War : The confederate navy blockade runner cruiser was deliberately run aground to avoid capture. She was then burned and blown up at Isle of Palms, South Carolina, USA. There were 0 dead and 140 survivors.

25 March

• USS Lancaster (United States): American Civil War: A steamboat that was sunk by Confederate forces off Port Hudson, Louisiana.

Unknown date

• Star of the West (United States): American Civil War: A steamship that was scuttled as a blockship near Greenwood, Mississippi.

April

8 April

• USS Keokuk (United States): American Civil War: An experimental ironclad steamer, sunk in the First Battle of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.

May

28 May

• USS Lily (United States): American Civil War: A tugboat that collided with USS Choctaw in the Yazoo River, Mississippi.

June

24 June

• USS Sumpter (United States): American Civil War: A steamship that sank in a collision near Smith Island, Virginia.

July

13 July

• USS Baron DeKalb (United States): American Civil War: A City-class ironclad warship that was sunk by a mine near Yazoo City, Mississippi.

28 July

• PSS Paris (United Kingdom): The paddle-steam ship was leaving Saint Helier harbour for St Malo on the same day. She started from St Malo at about 6:15am Tuesday morning with 24 passengers and 12 tons of cargo, chiefly butter and eggs. Whilst under Pilot control, The vessel struck on a rock known as ´GRUNE VAUDIN´. The engines were immediatelystopped and at once set for astern, the lifeboats to be lowered. Ten minutes after the vessel struck she went down in 5 fathoms of water.

August

21 August

• USS Bainbridge (United States): American Civil War: She capsized off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina with the loss of all but one of her crew.

October

8 October

• J. O. (United Kingdom): The barque was driven ashore at Whitford Point, Glamorgan. Her crew survived.

December

6 December

• USS Weehawken (United States): American Civil War: The monitor was sunk at Charleston, South Carolina.