PS Lelia

PS Lelia was a steamship built in 1864,[1] during the American Civil War for use as a blockade runner for the Confederate States of America.

She left the River Mersey, with a largely Liverpool-based crew, and several prominent Confederate naval officers, on her maiden voyage on 14 January 1865 bound for Wilmington, North Carolina, via Bermuda, aiming to run the Union blockade.

Lelia was heavily laden, and when she hit bad weather off the coast of North Wales, large waves knocked her anchors loose and through the deck, swamping her.

Two boats were able to leave the stricken ship, but one capsized and only twelve survivors (out of fifty-one on board) reached the safety of the lightship.

The wreck was given protected status when it was added to the National Heritage list for England by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in August 2019.