USS Iron Age (1862) - Wreck of The USS Iron Age

Wreck of The USS Iron Age

In late 1863 the Confederate blockade runner Elizabeth ran aground just off of Holden Beach in the Lockwood's Folly Inlet. In January 1864 the Confederate blockade runner Bendigo, returning from the port of Nassau with critical supplies for the Confederacy, saw the wreck of the Elizabeth and thought it to be a Union warship. Following the tactics of the day the Bendigo attempted to pass at full speed between enemy and the shore. This resulted in the CSS Bendigo running hard aground. The captain of the Bendigo recruited the help of the locals on Holden Beach and was successfully able to salvage the supplies of the vessel. Following this, the captain set fire to the Bendigo and abandoned ship. Within a few days the United States Navy ordered the Iron Age and USS Daylight to Lockwood's Folly Inlet, near Wilmington, to try to float grounded Confederate blockade runner Bendigo on 9 January 1864. The following morning at 0900 USS Iron Age ran hard aground during an attempt to free the Confederate warship. After untiring efforts to lighten her failed to refloat the ship, she was put to the torch at 0400 11 January 1864 and was destroyed 1 hour and 40 minutes later when her magazine exploded. Several days later locals from Holden Beach and the surrounding area would row out to the wreck in an attempt to salvage anything of value. Neil Holden, a Confederate soldier and descendant of the Holden Beach's namesake, claims to have found a razor blade in the captain's cabin of the USS Iron Age and has passed it down for several generations. The razor has stayed in the Holden family since the Civil War.