CSS Neuse
 Lower hull of CSS Neuse
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Confederate States | |
| Namesake | Neuse River |
| Builder | Howard and Ellis, Kinston, North Carolina |
| Launched | November 1863 |
| Commissioned | April 1864 |
| Fate | Burned to prevent capture, March 1865 |
| Status | Hull raised and on display in Kinston, North Carolina. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Albemarle-class ironclad ram |
| Length | 152 ft (46 m) |
| Beam | 34 ft (10 m) |
| Draft | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Armament | 2 × 6.4 in (160 mm) Brooke rifles |
CSS Neuse (Ironclad Gunboat) | |
  | |
| Nearest city | Kinston, North Carolina |
| Coordinates | 35°15′37.47″N 77°34′53.20″W / 35.2604083°N 77.5814444°W |
| Area | 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) |
| Built | 1865 |
| Architect | Confederate Navy Dept.; Howard & Ellis |
| NRHP reference No. | 00000444[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 11, 2001 |
CSS Neuse (
Construction
A contract for the construction of Neuse was signed on 17 October 1862 between the shipbuilding company of Thomas Howard and Elijah Ellis and the Confederate Navy. Work began in October of that year on the bank across the
Ordnance and projectiles
Neuse was equipped with two 6.4-inch (163 mm)
Service and post-war history
Launched in November 1863 while still needing
Ironclad recovery
After nearly a century, the remaining lower hull of the ironclad was discovered and then raised in 1963; approximately 15,000 shipboard artifacts were recovered and carefully cataloged. Neuse's hull was then temporarily installed in the Governor Caswell Memorial, beside the river, in Kinston.[2][3] Since 2013, Neuse and her artifacts have been on display in a new, climate-controlled building in downtown Kinston.[4][5][6]
There are currently only four recovered Civil War era ironclad wrecks, CSS Neuse,
Neuse II replica
A replica of the CSS Neuse, better known as CSS Neuse II, was the brainchild of Kinston activist and businessman Ted Sampley and built by Alton Stapleford. Neuse II is on grounds display at a separate site in Kinston and contains a complete fitted-out interior that shows all shipboard details; she was constructed by volunteers from 2002 to 2009. Neuse is the only Confederate ironclad that has a historic, full-size replica on display. Since April 2002 Neuse's sister ironclad, CSS Albemarle has had a 3⁄8 scale replica, 63 feet (19 m) long, at anchor near the Port O' Plymouth Museum in Plymouth, North Carolina. This ironclad replica is self-powered and capable of sailing on the river.
References
Notes
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "CSS Neuse & Gov. Caswell Memorial: A New Home". North Carolina Historic Sites. North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
- ^ "Moving the CSS Neuse A Question of Wood and Time". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
- ^ "Bidding Opportunities". NC Institute of Minority Economic Development. 24 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
- ^ Anderson, David (29 October 2010). "Plans unveiled for CSS Neuse gunboat museum". Kinston Free Press. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
- ^ "YouTube Video:CSS Neuse Moved to Downtown Kinston, 06/23/12". North Carolina History Museum. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
Bibliography
- Bisbee, Saxon T. (2018). Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-81731-986-1.
- Bright, Leslie S., Rowland, William H., and Bardon, James C. C.S.S. Neuse, A Question of Iron and Time. Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Raleigh, NC. 1981. ISBN 0-86526-187-3.
- Canney, Donald L. (2015). The Confederate Steam Navy 1861-1865. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-4824-2.
- Campbell, R. Thomas. Southern Thunder: Exploits of the Confederate States Navy, White Maine Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-57249-029-2.
- Campbell, R. Thomas. Southern Fire: Exploits of the Confederate States Navy, White Maine Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-57249-046-2.
- Campbell, R. Thomas. Fire and Thunder: Exploits of the Confederate States Navy, White Maine Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-57249-067-5.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). Civil War Navies 1855–1883. The U.S. Navy Warship Series. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97870-X.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- ISBN 0-87249-454-3.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
