Shipwreck of the Run'her

About

The Run'her was a Confederate cargo and minelaying steamship that was shipwrecked in the Bay of Angra, on the island of Terceira in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores in 1863. It is part of the subaquatic archaeological park of the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo.

History: The Run'her was constructed in the United Kingdom in 1863, in the shipyard of J & W Dudgeon, on the Isle of Dogs, London for the Confederate States. It was 230 feet (70 m) in length, 27 feet (8.2 m) wide, with a depth of 14 feet (4.3 m) and 10 feet (3.0 m) draft. In the context of the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Run'her was part of a fleet of blockade-runners, that carried equipment and laid naval mines. The ship was one in a series of ships built for William G. Crenshaw Co., a joint British-Confederate business, constructed to meet a Confederate contract to carry military, medical and other equipment, in addition to goods for the Confederacy. This because the Confederacy had a chronic lack of foreign credit, and the Confederate government was obliged to contract to acquire the ships with six advanced British naval shipyards in return for the shipment of cotton. It was only after payment amortization...