Huntsville-class ironclad
Sketch of Huntsville, Mobile, Alabama, 1864
| |
Class overview | |
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Name | Huntsville-class ironclad |
Builders | Henry D. Basset, Selma, Alabama |
Operators | Confederate States Navy |
Built | 1862–1863 |
In service | 1863–1865 |
Completed | 2 |
Lost | 2 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Casemate ironclad |
Tonnage | 500 |
Length | 152 ft (46 m) ( o/a ) |
Beam | 34 or 43.5 ft (10.4 or 13.3 m) |
Draft | 7 to 9 ft (2.1 to 2.7 m) |
Installed power | 1 or 2 × propellers |
Propulsion | 2 × Steam engines |
Speed | 2.5 knots (4.6 km/h; 2.9 mph) |
Complement | 40 or 120 officers and enlisted men |
Armament |
|
Armor | 4 in (102 mm) |
The Huntsville-class ironclads consisted of two
CSS Tuscaloosa was an
Background and description
During the American Civil War, the Confederate States Navy determined that it was unable to keep up with the Union Navy's ability to produce traditional warships, and eventually decided to emphasize construction of ironclad warships.[2] Before the war, Mobile, Alabama, had been the second-most important trading port on the Gulf of Mexico, and gained greater importance to the Confederacy after the fall of New Orleans in early 1862. The city lay on the northern edge of Mobile Bay, which opened into the Gulf of Mexico.[3] In December 1861, the state government of Alabama had purchased a cotton lighter and converted her into the ironclad CSS Baltic, transferring her to the Confederate government in May 1862. However, Baltic was a decrepit and ineffective vessel.[4]
For further defense of the Mobile area, the
No ship plans for Tuscaloosa are known to exist, but the
It was originally expected that the Columbus Naval Iron Works would produce custom-built machinery for Tuscaloosa, but this was not possible due to lack of time and shortage of machinery.
Tuscaloosa's armor was 4 inches (10 cm) thick.
History
Tuscaloosa was launched at Selma on February 7, 1863.
Bisbee notes that Tuscaloosa was "a failure as a self-propelled vessel".
After the defeat in the bay, the Confederates only had four warships left to defend Mobile: Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, the ironclad
Huntsville was ordered on May 1, 1862 by the
Huntsville escaped up the Spanish River following the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864. The city of Mobile held out another eight months, with the upper portion of Mobile Bay remaining in Confederate hands. She, along with the CSS Tuscaloosa, was scuttled to prevent capture on April 12, 1865, following the surrender of the city. The wreck lies where the Spanish River splits off from the Mobile River on the north side of Blakeley Island, just north of Mobile, until being located in 1985.[31]
Ships
Ship name | Namesake[32] | Builder | Laid down
|
Launched | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CSS Huntsville | Huntsville, Alabama | Henry D. Bassett, Selma, Alabama | May 1862 | 7 February 1863 | Scuttled to prevent capture, 12 April 1865 |
CSS Tuscaloosa | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
Notes
- laid down at Selma.[6]
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
References
- ^ Silverstone 1989, p. xiii.
- ^ Still 1988, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 187.
- ^ Still 1988, pp. 79–81.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 188.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 91.
- ^ a b c d e Bisbee 2018, p. 143.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 190.
- ^ a b Still 1988, p. 191.
- ^ a b c d e f Silverstone 1989, p. 207.
- ^ a b Bisbee 2018, p. 144.
- ^ a b c d e "Tuscaloosa". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ Turner 1999, p. 145.
- ^ Bisbee 2018, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Turner 1999, p. 166.
- ^ a b Bisbee 2018, p. 192.
- ^ a b Bisbee 2018, p. 145.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 192.
- ^ a b c d Gaines 2008, p. 7.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 101.
- ^ Bisbee 2018, pp. 145–146.
- ^ a b c Bisbee 2018, p. 146.
- ^ a b Bisbee 2018, p. 148.
- ^ Luraghi 1996, p. 321.
- ^ Still 1988, pp. 201–202.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 205.
- ^ Still 1988, pp. 210–211.
- ^ Still 1988, p. 212.
- ^ Still 1988, pp. 222–225.
- ^ Gaines 2008, pp. 1–8.
- ^ Silverstone 1984, pp. 51, 53.
Bibliography
- Bisbee, Saxon T. (2018). ISBN 978-0-81731-986-1.
- Canney, Donald L. (2015). The Confederate Steam Navy 1861-1865. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-4824-2.
- Gaines, W. Craig (2008). Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: ISBN 978-0-8071-3274-6.
- "Huntsville". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Navy.
- Luraghi, Raimondo (1996). A History of the Confederate Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-527-6.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-783-6.
- ISBN 0-87249-454-3.
- Turner, Maxine (1999) [1988]. Navy Gray: Engineering the Confederate Navy on the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. ISBN 0-86554-642-8.
- "Tuscaloosa". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Navy.