New view of Civil War shipwreck via 3-D sonar

This high-resolution 3-D sonar image shows the remains of the USS Hatteras, the only U.S. Navy ship sunk in combat in the Gulf of Mexico during the Civil War. The view is from the vessel's port side, toward its stern. The long paddlewheel shaft, bent and angled, rests on the seabed with the fragmented remains of the port side paddlewheel on the right. / AP/NOAA, Northwest Hydro Inc., James Glaeser

GALVESTON, Texas The remains of the only U.S. Navy ship sunk in combat in the Gulf of Mexico during the Civil War can now be seen in high-resolution, 3-D sonar images from the Gulf's murky depths.

The USS Hatteras images are being released this month to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the battle where the 210-foot ship was lost about 20 miles from Galveston.

A view of the USS Hatteras as it fought and sank in 1863, depicted in a drawing by Civil War artist Francis H. Schell.

/ AP/NOAA, Northwest Hydro Inc., James Glaeser

They show previously unknown details like a paddle wheel, the stern and rudder — and a shell hole that may have been among the ship's fatal wounds.

Archaeologists and technicians spent two days last September mapping the wreckage with sonar imaging technology.

Project manager Jim Delgado, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says the images allow views no diver can get because of the murky water.