supplies to various defensive works along the North Carolina coast. The Curlew was acquired by the Confederate Navy after Hatteras Inlet fell to Union forces in August 1861. It was outfitted with one rifled 32-pounder cannon in the bow and one 12-pounder smoothbore cannon in the stern. Under the command of Thomas T. Hunter (also known as "Tornado" Hunter) it was involved in the capture of the U.S. Army supply boat Fanny at Chicamacomico on October 1, 1861. Between October 1861 and February 1862 the Curlew alternately patrolled Pamlico Sound and harassed Union shipping at Hatteras Inlet. On February 7 the Curlew and eight other Confederate gunboats attempted to repel the Union invasion of Roanoke Island. During this battle the Curlew was holed by a shell and was run aground to keep from sinking. Unfortunately, it did so directly in front of Fort Forrest, a set of anchored barges equipped with seven guns, blocking the guns from service. The next day the ship was set on fire when the Confederate forces on Roanoke Island surrendered. The remaining Confederate gunboats withdrew to Elizabeth City, where all but two were destroyed or captured on February 10 in the Battle of Elizabeth City. Afterwards, Captain Hunter commented to another gunboat captain that during the battle he suddenly realized that his pants were gone, even though he knew he put on a pair that morning. The Curlew's engine was salvaged in 1863, after which the wreck was allowed to decay. It was located in 1988 by a group of international divers working for the state of North Carolina's Underwater Archaeological Unit. Its identity was confirmed when one of the divers, Takafumi Yamaguchi, recovered the builders plate. In 1994 the wreck was documented by state divers and students from East Carolina University. Eli Williamson, pilot When the Curlew was impressed into service for the Confederate Navy, its long-term pilot, a black Freedman named Eli Williamson, was also taken on. Williamson – who named one of his daughters Curlew – had his right arm broken by the shattered wheel of the ship in the Battle of Roanoke Island. On the basis of his service on the Curlew, Williamson applied for and received a Civil War pension from the state of North Carolina in 1905, becoming probably the first African American to successfully do so. Although the North Carolina General Assembly would later award pensions to a