Civil War-Era Ship, Maple Leaf, Sinks Off Florida's St. Johns…

In 1864, the mysterious demise of a vessel became a reality. A local diver, Elmer Carlson, was the accidental detective who unearthed this American Civil War-era mystery more than two decades later.

Launched from Kingston, Upper Canada in the 1850s, the Maple Leaf was a 181-foot long and 24.7-foot wide steamer. During the American Civil War, it was chartered by the Union Army. On April 1, 1864, off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, it encountered a Confederate torpedo in the St. Johns River, becoming the first casualty of the war. Its wreckage was discovered in 1984 by a local diver named Elmer Carlson. Despite lacking formal training, Carlson handled the investigation, leading to the wreckage being designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1994.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Civil War-Era Ship, Maple Leaf, Sinks Off Florida's St. Johns River in April

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