Book Suggestions - CSA Navy

[Paul Yancey]

One area of the War that I know very little about is the CSA Navy. Does anyone have any suggestions for books regarding this subject. The only book I currently have in my library is a reprint of "History Of The Confederate States Navy From Its Organization To The Surrender Of Its Last Vessel", by J. Thomas Sharf. I believe this was originally published in 1887. Any suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rebelatsea]

For the ironclads may I blow my own trumpet and suggest "The Southern Iron Navy" It's a downloadable and printable PDF available from Wargamesvault.com. They have put it up under the working title Ironclads and Iron protected Vessels of the Confederate States Navy 1861 -1865. If you do purchase a copy you will find many books on the CSN in the bibliography.
Apart from that, I'm sure many of my colleagues in the Naval Forum will wish to make suggestions too - hope you are feeling rich !

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

One book I would suggest would be "Memoirs of Service Afloat during the War between the States" by Raphael Semmes. Its a long, long memoir, but you get to see a first hand account of the formation of the CS Navy by a former USN officer looking for a captaincy, his journey's under the Star and Bars all over the world in two CSN ships, one of them one the first, the other one of the most storied. As for others I'd bet you have is a good one already, and I'd second @rebelatsea's recommendations.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sir, what part of their history interests you the most?

For a very good overview of the entire CSN organization, may I suggest 'The Confederate Navy: A Study in Organization' by Tom Wells - https://www.amazon.com/Confederate-Navy-Organization-Tom-Wells/dp/0817351051/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Confederate+Navy:+A+Study+in+Organization.&qid=1564255995&s=books&sr=1-1

For a good overview of the naval war, please try 'Divided Waters: The Naval History of the Civil War' by Ivan Musicant - https://www.amazon.com/Divided-Waters-Naval-History-Civil/dp/0060164824/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Divided+Waters:+The+Naval+History+of+the+Civil+War&qid=1564256548&s=books&sr=1-1

...also sir, if you would like to view a list put together by @Mark F. Jenkins ... https://civilwartalk.com/threads/knowledge-of-the-naval-war.77727/page-5#post-783063
18

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sir, as a word of...caution...I would be careful with the Semmes volume. He was a lawyer...This book reads like a legal brief, 'brief' being the last word anyone would use to describe his 800 page writing. It is interesting to get into the man's mind to get a handle on his thought process but I often wondered if the juice was worth the squeeze after finishing it. If you REALLY want to get into the mind of a true believer to understand their view point, this is the book. If you need a sleep aid and don't want to go the chemical route, this works also. 'Memoirs of Service Afloat' is like reading a Confederate 'Das Kapital' . If a rabid badger attacked you while you were reading it you could kill it with this massive tome...

Just my opinion - your mileage may vary...

Good luck,
USS ALASKA

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

Sir, as a word of...caution...I would be careful with the Semmes volume. He was a lawyer...This book reads like a legal brief, 'brief' being the last word anyone would use to describe his 800 page writing. It is interesting to get into the man's mind to get a handle on his thought process but I often wondered if the juice was worth the squeeze after finishing it. If you REALLY want to get into the mind of a true believer to understand their view point, this is the book. If you need a sleep aid and don't want to go the chemical route, this works also. 'Memoirs of Service Afloat' is like reading a Confederate 'Das Kapital' . If a rabid badger attacked you while you were reading it you could kill it with this massive tome...

Just my opinion - your mileage may vary...

Good luck,
USS ALASKA

I would second this cautionary note. The first 8 chapters are almost entirely a legal argument for secession, interesting if your looking for that, a sleep pill if not, (it put me to sleep the first time I tried reading them, only time that ever happened, took me two more tries to make it through those eight chapters). My advice if you chose to read Semmes' enormous volume is to read it only if interested. Another note would be there are two, maybe three chapters devoted to meteorology from the viewpoint of a sailor, with good diagrams. Those chapters are useless from a CW point of view, but I personally found them enlightening and help to understand old time memoirs from sailors, and even the evening weather on the news.

I probably should have left that note of caution in my original post, but its a book I love and love to recommend, and I simply forgot that very important note of caution.

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

If a rabid badger attacked you while you were reading it you could kill it with this massive tome...

I just got to say, that is a VERY accurate statement! I love it! "Memoirs of Service Afloat" is a great book once the politics and weather is out of the way, but like I said the first time I saw a copy, "My God Semmes was a long winded *******!"

He was a lawyer so looking back, I should have expected that.

 

[JeffBrooks]

I greatly enjoyed Iron Afloat: The Story of Confederate Armorclads, by William N. Still, Jr. This despite the fact that I have never heard the term "armorclads" used except in the subtitle of this book.