Engines of the Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War

My father was a marine engineer who worked his way up to master. When he was young and just went to sea between the wars he was surprised to see how many of the older steamers used Lignum vitae as bearings on the drive shafts of propeller driven vessels. This wood is so dense that it doesn't float.
It's also self lubricating so was ideal for the comparatively slow running reciprocating steam engines of the time.
 
I found this book absolutely fascinating. You always hear about armor or firepower but rarely think about the machinery that makes it a ship and not a floating battery.

I always had the impression machinery for the ARKANSAS had been removed from another ship and was to be refurbished before installation. Then when Brown was forced to tow ARKANSAS out of Memphis the machinery came with it but hadn't been touched and didn't get a full overhaul before installation. Thus the problems...
 
I found this book absolutely fascinating. You always hear about armor or firepower but rarely think about the machinery that makes it a ship and not a floating battery.

I always had the impression machinery for the ARKANSAS had been removed from another ship and was to be refurbished before installation. Then when Brown was forced to tow ARKANSAS out of Memphis the machinery came with it but hadn't been touched and didn't get a full overhaul before installation. Thus the problems...
Arkansa had her outfit of machinery and boilers installed when taken from Memphis. The machinery and boilers from her sister ship were transported to Yazoo City, and almost certainly were used to power the two screws of the Yazoo Monster (CSS New Orleans).
 
A 3.5 page review from over in @rebelatsea 's 'neck-of-the-woods'...

Civil War Book Review
Winter 2019 Article 11

Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War
by Trevor Cox

University of Wolverhampton, [email protected]
Trevor Cox is a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom where he is currently teaching courses on the American Civil War and Combined Operations in the American Civil War. He is currently producing a book manuscript The American Civil War and the British Imperial Dilemma: How Canadian Confederation was born of the Anglo- American Crises of 1861-1867.

Excerpt;
The book provides a power plant inventory for each of the Confederate vessels launched. Highly technical and forensic in this examination of steam machine configuration, it makes itself more user-friendly in providing an extensive glossary explaining specialist
terminology, in reproducing diagrams, plans, and cross-sections, and in offering contemporary paintings and photographs of several of the warships. The in-depth specifications of the vessels are also supplemented by biographies which relate the profiles and experiences of the constructors, engineers, and operators who served on board, in addition to the combat actions in which they were engaged. This further increases the monograph’s accessibility, as does Bisbee categorising the ironclads into standardised ‘classes’, these groupings comprising each of the subsequent chapters. The classes were essentially defined by evolving design characteristics, though the author acknowledges it to be a slightly arbitrary tool of convenience as Confederate administrators struggled to work to neat blueprints - forced into constant improvisation by the South’s weak industrial base, material and manpower shortages, scarcity of ship yards/dry docks, and time pressures bought on the war.


https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3388&context=cwbr
1013

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

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A 3.5 page review from over in @rebelatsea 's 'neck-of-the-woods'...

Civil War Book Review
Winter 2019 Article 11

Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War
by Trevor Cox

University of Wolverhampton, [email protected]
Trevor Cox is a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom where he is currently teaching courses on the American Civil War and Combined Operations in the American Civil War. He is currently producing a book manuscript The American Civil War and the British Imperial Dilemma: How Canadian Confederation was born of the Anglo- American Crises of 1861-1867.

Excerpt;
The book provides a power plant inventory for each of the Confederate vessels launched. Highly technical and forensic in this examination of steam machine configuration, it makes itself more user-friendly in providing an extensive glossary explaining specialist
terminology, in reproducing diagrams, plans, and cross-sections, and in offering contemporary paintings and photographs of several of the warships. The in-depth specifications of the vessels are also supplemented by biographies which relate the profiles and experiences of the constructors, engineers, and operators who served on board, in addition to the combat actions in which they were engaged. This further increases the monograph’s accessibility, as does Bisbee categorising the ironclads into standardised ‘classes’, these groupings comprising each of the subsequent chapters. The classes were essentially defined by evolving design characteristics, though the author acknowledges it to be a slightly arbitrary tool of convenience as Confederate administrators struggled to work to neat blueprints - forced into constant improvisation by the South’s weak industrial base, material and manpower shortages, scarcity of ship yards/dry docks, and time pressures bought on the war.


https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3388&context=cwbr
1013

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Doesn't change my original opinion, Bisbee failed to take note of new information and just published the original thesis unchanged.
 
Sirs, for those still interested, 301 page document here...

How A Vessel of This Magnitude Was Moved : A Comparative Analysis of Confederate Ironclad Steam Engines Boilers and Propulsion Systems
Saxon T. Bisbee

Abstract
The development of steam propulsion machinery in warships during the 19th century in conjunction with iron armor and shell guns resulted in a technological revolution in the world's navies. Warships utilizing all of these technologies had been built in France and Great Britain dating back to the 1850s but it was during the American Civil War that ironclads powered solely by steam proved themselves in large numbers. The armored warships built by the Confederate States of America especially represented a style adapted to scarce industrial resources and facilities. The development and / or procurement of propulsion machinery for these warships have received only peripheral study. Through historical and archaeological investigation this thesis consolidates and expands on the scattered existing information on Confederate ironclad steam engines boilers and propulsion systems. Using a comparative analytical approach the steam plants of 27 ironclads are assessed by source type and performance among other factors. This has resulted in an analysis of steam machinery development during the Civil War and also adds to the relatively small knowledge base relating to Confederate ironclads.

https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/handle/10342/4060 - click on View / Open link under the title

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
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