A tale of two shipwrecks: U. S. Steamer Convoy and Confederate Schooner William H. Judah

This paper examines the site formation processes of the U. S. Steamer Convoy that burned and sank in Pensacola Pass in March 1866 and the search for the Confederate Schooner William H. Judah that burned and sank in the same vicinity five years earlier. The vessels' Civil War histories are discussed, as well as the deliberate and opportunistic salvage operations conducted on Convoy's wreck site during the 19th and 20th centuries. The paper details a recent Convoy wreck site survey that explored the possibility that both wrecks were located at the same site. The research also discussed the geomorphologic processes that impacted the Convoy site. The result of this research is a comprehensive examination of the cultural and natural forces that created Convoy's contemporary wreck site, definitively addressing a local folklore tradition regarding the wrecks' collocation.