CORTEZ – Many shipwrecks lie in the waters around Tampa Bay, and Florida Maritime Museum visitors learned about three of them dating from the Civil War last week from Jeff Moates, director of the West Central and Central Regional Centers for the Florida Public Archaeology Network.

The ships were part of the naval blockade known as the "Anaconda Plan," or "Scott's Great Snake" which cut off the South from incoming supplies during the war, Moates said.

The Union Navy increased from 80 vessels in 1860 to 671 in 1864, but it was still not easy to block the numerous bays and inlets of Florida, he said.

Kate Dale and Scottish Chief

The Kate Dale and the Scottish Chief were attempting to block the Hillsborough River in Tampa when they sank.

A hundred soldiers ambushed the Kate Dale in 1862 in the Battle of Ballast Point, Moates said. Seven died, five Union and two Confederate soldiers. She sank in the Hillsborough River across from what is now Lowry Park Zoo and lies eight feet down, visible from the surface.

The sailing schooner was discovered by the Tampa Bay Shipwreck Survey of the Florida Aquarium.

The 141-foot sidewheel steamboat Scottish Chief sank downriver near what is now Blake High School, but has never been found in the black water, Moates said.

U.S.S. Narcissus

Three goliath grouper guard the U.S.S. Narcissus 14 feet down in the shoals about 2.7 miles northwest of Egmont Key, Moates said.

Originally the Mary Cook, she was built for harbor service in New York in the second year of the Civil War, 1863, but was recruited by the Union Navy.

The 81.5-foot, wooden-hulled steam tug traveled south in the Atlantic Ocean and into the Gulf of Mexico on her way to New Orleans in 1864, where she was rechristened U.S.S. Narcissus and armed with a 12-pound cannon and a 20-pound rifle.

She blockaded ships carrying food and supplies to Southern troops, capturing enemy vessels, transporting prisoners and serving as a towboat.

In August, 1864, she served in the battle of Mobile Bay, during which Union Rear Admiral David G. Farragut spoke his infamous quote, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"

Then, on Dec. 7, a storm arose and the Narcissus struck a mine, known then as a torpedo, which tore a hole in her starboard side amidships. She sank in 15 minutes, but the crew survived.

The Navy refloated her and sent her to Pensacola for repairs, where she sat out the rest of the war.

In 1865, with the war over, Narcissus began her voyage back to New York with the U.S.S. Althea to be decommissioned and sold. But on Jan. 4, 1866, a storm struck as the ships approached Anna Maria Island. Althea headed northwest while Narcissus took a western route, taking the wind and tide on her starboard beam.

At 6:15 p.m. Narcissus sent up a flare, which Althea returned at 6:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. Althea saw another signal from Narcissus, and responded.

Then the Althea crew heard an explosion; Narcissus had run aground on a sandbar and her boiler had exploded, sinking the ship.

The next morning, Althea anchored off Egmont Key and the crew surveyed the wreckage from Narcissus, finding the body of one of the crew on the beach. For two days they searched for survivors, but found none of the other 25 crew members.

The submerged tomb lies in pieces in 15 feet of water, with the engine frame, shaft, propeller and fragments of the exploded boiler visible among the wreckage.

Owned by the U.S. Navy, which requests that the site be treated with respect as a military grave, Narcissus also is protected by Florida laws prohibiting unauthorized disturbance, excavation or removal of artifacts.