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| The Liverpool lifeboat attempting to rescue the crew of the Lelia |
The wreck of a steamship which sank while running guns and supplies during the American Civil War has been given protected status.
The Lelia was a purpose-built warship secretly ordered and built in Liverpool for the Confederate Government of the Southern states of the US who were fighting against the Unionist North.
The steel steamship sank in a storm on 14th January 1865 while on its maiden voyage to Bermuda, killing 47 people.
A further seven people died when the Liverpool No 1 lifeboat sank trying to pick up survivors.
The shipwreck off the Merseyside coastline is described as one of the "most historically significant wrecks in the North West" by Historic England.
It is the first shipwreck in the Liverpool bay area to be granted protected status.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has added the wreck to the National Heritage list for England, a sign of the wreck's historical importance.
The remains of the ship were discovered in the Liverpool bay area in the 1990s when a bell marked 'Lelia 1864' was found by a local diver.
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| A multibeam image of the Leila, a 19th century paddle steamer which has just been granted heritage protection by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England |
The paddle steamer was built in Millers shipyard Toxteth in the 1860s.
It was secretly ordered by the Confederate Government to run supplies through the naval blockade imposed on the South of the country during the war.
Numerous Liverpool ship builders experimented to make light and fast ships designed to smuggle weapons and other war supplies into the South.
In 1997 the first diving inspection of the wreck was carried out by the Archaeological Diving Unit.
The American Civil War was fought between 1861-65 and was caused by the political and economic tensions between the North and South of the country surrounding the issue of slavery.
While Britain was officially neutral throughout the conflict, the importance of cotton and exports from the South led shipping companies in Britain to collaborate with the Confederacy.
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England said: "The Lelia is one of a small group of British ships involved in British complicity in running guns and munitions to the Confederates.
"Though the UK remained officially neutral throughout the American Civil War, the Lelia comprises evidence of the British financing of blockade runners that sent munitions and luxuries to Confederate ports in return for cotton and tobacco.
"As such it is very significant as historical evidence."
Rebecca Pow, Heritage Minister said: "Protecting sites like the wreck of the Lelia helps us to preserve an important story about Britain's role in the American Civil War.
"Although the conflict happened over a hundred years ago it is right that we ensure the protection of this site so we can broaden our knowledge of our nation's seafaring history."
