Charleston Harbor

Due to its status as a slave capital, “Scholars estimate that over forty percent of all enslaved Africans sent to North America entered through Charleston Harbor — making Charleston the largest North American point of disembarkation for the trans-Atlantic slave trade.”[2] The harbor contains Fort Sumter, the site of the first shots of the American Civil War.

Hunley made a daring night attack on the USS Housatonic, during the American Civil War.

Existing federal channels are dredged to an authorized depth of 45 feet below mean lower low water.

The largest ships must carry less cargo, wait for favorable tide conditions, or combine these two approaches to reach port in Charleston.

As of 2015[update], the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to design a deepening of the channels to 52 feet.