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The programmes
Throughout the 19th century, thousands of ships were built at Liverpool Docks and sent safely to destinations around the world. In 1865, however, one of these ships – an American-owned paddle steamer named Lelia – took to the seas unfinished and unprepared for the difficult weather conditions that lay ahead. Why she left port incomplete has been the focus of much speculation. One theory suggests she was urgently called to secretly carry British weapons to help the Confederates in the American Civil War. The Wreck Detectives teamed up with BSAC diver Chris Michael, who discovered her wreckage in 1986, to find out what the Lelia was carrying and whether or not she was involved in the shady trade of arms smuggling.
The history
From 1861 to 1865 North America was engaged in a bloody civil war, fought between the northern and southern states. The causes of the American Civil War largely came down to two issues: slavery and the preservation of the federal union – the United States of America.
As they became more industrial, the northern states had grown richer. The southern states, however, had few of the north's resources and relied heavily on agriculture and slavery. Slavery had been abolished in most northern states, but remained legal in the southern states and was seen by them as vitally important to their economy. Northern politicians insisted that slavery was evil and should be stamped out. But this enraged the southerners and in January 1861 they began seceding from the union. In March 1861, anti-slavery candidate Abraham Lincoln was elected US President. He refused to accept the secession of the south. Tensions continued to rise and the war began.
At the outbreak of war, the northern states, known collectively as the Union, had an enormous advantage over the southern states, known as the Confederacy, in terms of manufacture, men and arms. This enabled the Union to create a blockade of the Confederate southern ports with a patrol of warships, preventing supplies from getting in.
More than 300 steamers made over 1300 attempts to run the blockade. Many of these were normal merchant vessels, but an ever-increasing number were purpose-built, with several advantages. They were faster and could travel easily over both deep seas and shallow inland waters. They also had lower profiles so they were harder to spot as they attempted to run the blockade. Many of these Confederate-owned steamers were built in British docks; Lelia, 640 tons gross and fitted with 300-horsepower engines, was built in Liverpool by William C Miller and Company.
Records say that she sailed from the River Mersey, bound for America, on 5 January 1865, heavily laden with a 700-ton cargo of coal, iron and general merchandise. The winter weather turned, however, as the ship headed towards the Welsh coast and she encountered heavy seas. Already lying low in the water because of her heavy cargo, the Lelia was soon in difficulty. Captain Thomas Buxton Skinner, her skipper, decided to slow the ship and hoist her anchors inboard in case they were lost in the storm. But as they carried out the task, a huge wave caused one of the anchors to smash through the deck. She sank 16 miles out to sea.
Chris Michael has tried for many years to find out the truth about what she was carrying when she sank and what her mission was. It's suspected that in a bid to stave off the south's defeat, at the close of the war, she was attempting to bring weapons to the Confederates. Britain remained neutral in the war and no arms or military vessels were officially allowed to be transported to help the Confederate cause.
The dive
The conditions were terrible throughout the week-long underwater investigation. Our team of Wreck Detectives had been warned about the unpredictable weather, but they were still very disappointed to miss four out of the six dives that they'd planned. For Miranda and her dive buddies, it was tough to even get in the water because of exceptionally high swells. On the first of the two dives that they did complete, bad visibility, caused by plankton and silt churned up by the current, made it difficult for Miranda and dive buddy Chris Michael to locate the wreckage.
Their mission was to clear the way to the cargo hold, brushing away the sand and silt as they went. Any excavation of materials in high seas can be dangerous and our team had to forgo surface-to-diver communication cables to avoid getting them entangled as they battled their way down the shotline. But as weather conditions worsened, the mission became more and more difficult. Bad weather stopped diving altogether on the last day.
Luckily, back on land Jeremy had tracked down a number of leads from the UK and America, which would go some way to proving whether or not Lelia was carrying arms. US naval historian, Kevin Foster, tracked down a document written by a Union spy in Liverpool. It confirmed that war-like contraband was onboard Lelia, including shot and other materials which could be turned into valuable ammunition.
There are many wreck sites around here, but the 30-metre deep Lelia is considered one of the best. The large structure sits upright, half buried in the silty seabed. Both boilers and both paddle wheels are still visible. The sheer size of her wheels is stunning – divers can even swim through the spokes comfortably. The wreck is entirely wrapped in plumose anemones and is patrolled by shoals of fish.
Find out more about the wreck of the Lelia.
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Location
16 miles out of Liverpool.
Dive planning
Diving around this area is not for the inexperienced because of strong currents, high swells and low visibility. The best time to dive this site is on slack water at about low tide. If you plan to complete two dives you'll have to dive in a slight current on one of the dives. For a two-tank dive, a charter boat would normally leave in the morning, stay out during low tide and come back in the evening. Check out tide information local to Liverpool for dive planning. Visibility in this area at low tide has been known to reach up to 10 metres, however, it's still worth carrying a torch to fully appreciate what lies there.
Useful contacts
Quest Diving Services, Menai Bridge:
01248 716923
Boat Charters
ESP Boat Charter, Menai Bridge:
0151 6087901
» Find out more
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