North Carolina's Wooden Gunboats

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

Wooden gunboats were built in North Carolina in three separate eras: the Revolutionary War, the period of the Thomas Jefferson and James Madison administrations (1803-1811) and the Confederacy.  All of these boats were designed for use in the state's shallow waters and propelled by oars and sails.

This being a War of 1812 blog, I'll concentrate on the second era.

The Jeffersonian gunboats were designed for coastal defense with an eye toward economy.  However some even served in the Mediterranean.  First authorized in 1803, eventually 177 were built all over the country, and some in North Carolina.  They ranged from 50 to over 75 feet in length and generally carried from one to three cannons.

At least six of these gunboats were stationed in Wilmington before and during the War of 1812.  Others served at Ocracoke.  Most led undistinguished careers, with officers and men usually trying for transfer to seagoing US vessels like the frigates.  After the war, the gunboats were either laid up or sold.

A wreck discovered by Bodie Island in 1939 may be the remains of Gunboat 140, which exploded, burned and sank on Sept.23, 1814, at Ocracoke Inlet.

Making a Real Small Boat.  --Brock-Perry