[Non-Sequitur]

You probably would have seen the crew frantically dumping all the munitions they had hidden below deck in order to float her while the confederate guns shot the masts to splinters.

Considering the wretched marksmanship shown by confederate artillerists on that occasion, as well as the shelling of the Rhoda Shannon and the fort itself, the crew may well have died of old age before a single mast was hit.

[rustbucket]

Considering the wretched marksmanship shown by confederate artillerists on that occasion

Fort Moultrie was out of range of the Star of the West; they soon ceased firing because their shots were going wild.

"Meanwhile, firing from the battery on Morris Island continued with precision, but most of the balls passed over the ship. The guns were depressed to shorten their range, and soon the ship was hit near the rudder and the bow." (The Siege of Charleston 1861-1865 by E. Milby Burton)

[GOPcapitalist]

Considering the wretched marksmanship shown by confederate artillerists on that occasion, as well as the shelling of the Rhoda Shannon and the fort itself, the crew may well have died of old age before a single mast was hit.

Curious claim. The version I read indicates that the Star of the West indicates that a shot "struck us in the fore-chains, about two feet above the water line."