Martha, 1862

Feb. 14, 2021
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Martha, 1862


A former name retained.


History:

The Martha was a small, 40-ton schooner acquired from the War Department, probably a war prize, in 1862.  In January of 1863 she was used to assist in the reconstruction of the Head of Passes lighthouse.  She then tended aids to navigation on the lower Mississippi River.  On 16 July 1864, while sailing to Pensacola, Florida, she was captured by the Confederates in Chandeleur Sound and then burned.  Her crew was taken prisoner and brought to Mobile, Alabama, although the Master and his son escaped.


Sources:

Douglas Peterson.  United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 2000.