Ironclad C.S.S. Virginia

C.S.S. Virginia
"The Rebel Monster"
:CSA1stNat:
1600796617854.png


Development
Type and class:
Casemate Ironclad Ram with Steam Powered Screw Propulsion​
Misidentified As: the "Merrimack", or the "Merrimac"
Ships in Class: One​
Keel laid: 1855 as U.S.S. Merrimack
Acquisition: Seized by the Confederates in April 1861 as part of the abandoned Gosport Navy Yard​
Salvaged From: the sunken, burned hulk, and machinery of the U.S.S. Merrimack
Shipyard: Gosport Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia​
Raised: May 30, 1861 and put in drydock​
Authorized: June 23, 1861 by the Confederate States Secretary of the Navy, Steven R. Mallory​
Designers:
1626362629336.png
Lieutenant John M. Brooke, C.S. Navy (primary designer, responsible for iron plating design and heavy ordnance)​
Naval Constructor John Luke Porter (given overall responsibility for the conversion to an ironclad)​
Chief Engineer William Price Williamson (responsible for the ship's machinery)​
Design Patented: C.S. Patent No. 100 to John M. Brooke of Richmond, VA for Ship of War, dated July 29, 1862​
Reconstruction Cost: $172,523.00 as appropriated by the Confederate Congress​
Overseeing Salvage and Reconstruction: Flag Officer French Forrest, Commander of the Gosport Naval Shipyard, C.S. Navy​
Career
Commissioned: February 17, 1862 as C.S.S. Virginia
Launched: March 8, 1862​
Operator: Confederate States Navy​
Roles: Blockade Breaking, Blue Water Operations, Fleet Support, Hunter, Direct-Attack, Specialized / Utility​
Length of Service: 64 days​
(From date of Launch, to date Scuttled. Includes 25 days of repairs and upgrades completed in dry dock, March / April 1862)​
Commanding Officers:
- Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan - February 24 to March 8, 1862​
He was wounded by shrapnel on first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads​
- The Executive Officer, Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones - March 9th​
A temporary command for second day of the Battle of Hampton Roads, including the duel with U.S.S. Monitor
- Flag Officer Josiah Tattnall - March 25 until May 11​
He ordered the ship destroyed to keep it out of Union hands.​
Compliment: 320 officers and men​
Victories: 2 Ships Sunk or Destroyed, 3 Ships Damaged or Run Aground, 3 Un-named Transports Destroyed​
U.S.S. Cumberland - Sunk after Ramming, Shelling, March 8​
Three Union Transports Destroyed, March 8​
U.S.S. Congress - Run Aground, Shelled, Surrendered, Destroyed by Fire, March 8​
U.S.S. Minnesota - Run Aground, Damaged by Shot, March 8 & 9​
U.S.S. St. Lawrence - Damaged by Shot, March 8​
U.S.S. Dragon - Severely Damaged by Shot, March 9​
Sorties: 5​
March 8 - Maiden Voyage. Engagement with U.S.S. Cumberland and U.S.S. Congress at Hampton Roads​
March 9 - Engagement with U.S.S. Monitor at Hampton Roads​
April 11 - The Virginia enters Hampton Roads. Federal transports flee the harbor to the protection of Fort Monroe. U.S.S. Monitor stays in the channel but does not accept the Virginia's challenge.​
May 8 - C.S.S. Virginia steams down the Elizabeth River from Gosport Navy Yard to contest the Navy’s advance and stays out of Hampton Roads hoping to engage U.S.S. Monitor.​
May 11 - Attempting to escape up the James River, after Gosport is reclaimed by the Union Army, the Virginia can't be made light enough to travel as far as planned up the shallow part of the river. Trapped, with no escape, the ship was scuttled, and fired, causing a great explosion, destroying the ship.​
Fate:
Scuttled and destroyed by fire/explosion to prevent capture by Union Forces near Craney Island, Virginia on May 11, 1862.​
Current Disposition:
The wreck of the Virginia was largely removed in sections between 1866 and 1876.​
The anchor and propeller shaft of the Virginia can be seen at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia​

1600791731352.png

Specifications

Length: 262.9 feet​
(shortened from the original 275 feet of the Merrimack)​
Beam: 38 ft 6 inches​
Depth of Hold: 22 feet​
Draft:
22 feet fully loaded​
about 19 1/2 feet with ballast and coal removed​
Displacement: 4,500 tons​
Propulsion:
Previously condemned by the U.S. Government, and recovered from the muddy riverbed​
Heating was provided by 16 furnaces​
Steam provided by 4 Martin type fire-box coal boilers, with an average steam pressure of 18 lbs.​
Power created by 2 West Point Foundry built, horizontal, back acting, two cylinder, 72" diameter piston, 3' stroke, steam engines, able to produce a combined estimated 1,300 shaft horsepower​
1 twin-bladed Griffith’s screw propeller measuring 17 feet 4 inches in diameter​
Speed: typical maximum 5 knots​
Range: about 150 miles​
Turning Circle: Radius of about 1 mile, completing a full circle in about 45 minutes​
Armor:
Deck - 4 inch Iron Plate​
Casemate - 24-inch oak reinforced by a 2x2 inch layer of iron plate angled at 36 degrees from horizontal​
Skirt - 1-inch iron plate under the casemate, to the waterline prior to Battle of Hampton Roads; or 2-inch iron plate below the casemate down 3 feet below the waterline after reinforcement​
(depending on the situation, the Virginia did expose some of it's lower wood hull above the waterline)​
Armament:
two 12-pounder deck howitzers were placed on each side nearest the furnaces​
two 7-inch Brooke rifles mounted on bow and stern pivots, each weighting in at 14,500 pounds​
two 6.4-inch Brooke rifles positioned along the port and starboard sides for firing broadside volleys​
six 9-inch Dahlgren Shell Guns salvaged from the old Merrimack
one 2-foot long 1,500 lb. iron ram, attached to the bow of the ship, mounted 2-feet below the surface of the water​

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Model of the C.S.S. Virginia’s Steam Engines

citation information The following information is provided for citations.
Article Title:
C.S.S. Virginia
Article Subject:
Civil War Naval Ships
Author:
Mike Kendra, @CivilWarTalk
Website Name:
CivilWarTalk.com
URL:
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/c-s-s-virginia.177802/
Publisher:
CivilWarTalk, LLC
Original Published Date:
September 23, 2020


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C.S.S. Virginia "The Rebel Monster"

C.S.S. Virginia is interesting Civil War naval history. It's demise came too soon (maybe.)

C.S.S. Virginia was a game changer. One wonders If Confederates had developed a fleet of
C.S.S. Virginias



 
C.S.S. Virginia "The Rebel Monster"

C.S.S. Virginia is interesting Civil War naval history. It's demise came too soon (maybe.)

C.S.S. Virginia was a game changer. One wonders If Confederates had developed a fleet of
C.S.S. Virginias
It was a bit clumsy though, and had too many handicaps. There were better ironclads with casemates, just none lucky enough to go up against wooden frontline warships like Cumberland and Congress...
 
One wonders why school children know about the Merrimack and Monitor. Just as easy to teach about Virginia and Monitor.
 
For most of her Confederate career, they called her Merrimac; the name Virginia was only assigned about three weeks before the battle.

M&M is kinda catchy, so it stuck even though not really accurate, like Pickett's Charge or Bunker Hill.

As @CivilWarTalk mentioned, they did build a good number of ironclads, although the ones designed for the purpose were quite different from Virginia; smaller, half the draft, more maneuverable, with compact casemates concentrating the weight amidships.

Virginia was the most successful, denying the Union use of the James River for the first part of the Peninsula campaign, probably more significant than the destruction of two wooden sailing ships. Their second most successful, Albemarle, is also noted as much for her support of Confederate land operations as for the converted wooden ferryboat she sank.
 
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One wonders why school children know about the Merrimack and Monitor. Just as easy to teach about Virginia and Monitor.
The rebuilt ship was almost universally referred to by her original name in the North, and with the success of MONITOR on March 9 in fending off her attacks, the name stuck in popular usage. The alliteration helped, I'm sure.
 
We
C.S.S. Virginia "The Rebel Monster"

C.S.S. Virginia is interesting Civil War naval history. It's demise came too soon (maybe.)

C.S.S. Virginia was a game changer. One wonders If Confederates had developed a fleet of
C.S.S. Virginias
Well...they tried to do that....and a few of the Confederacy's other ironclads proved to be rather successful; however, many were just forlorn turtles (CSS GEORGIA)
 
C.S.S. Virginia
"The Rebel Monster"
:CSA1stNat:View attachment 375418


Development
Type and class:
Casemate Ironclad Ram with Steam Powered Screw Propulsion​
Misidentified As: the "Merrimack", or the "Merrimac"
Ships in Class: One​
Keel laid: 1855 as U.S.S. Merrimack
Acquisition: Seized by the Confederates in April 1861 as part of the abandoned Gosport Navy Yard​
Salvaged From: the sunken, burned hulk, and machinery of the U.S.S. Merrimack
Shipyard: Gosport Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia​
Raised: May 30, 1861 and put in drydock​
Authorized: June 23, 1861 by the Confederate States Secretary of the Navy, Steven R. Mallory​
Designers:
Lieutenant John M. Brooke, C.S. Navy (primary designer, responsible for iron plating design and heavy ordnance)​
Naval Constructor John Luke Porter (given overall responsibility for the conversion to an ironclad)​
Chief Engineer William Price Williamson (responsible for the ship's machinery)​
Reconstruction Cost: $172,523.00 as appropriated by the Confederate Congress​
Overseeing Salvage and Reconstruction: Flag Officer French Forrest, Commander of the Gosport Naval Shipyard, C.S. Navy​
Career
Commissioned: February 17, 1862 as C.S.S. Virginia
Launched: March 8, 1862​
Operator: Confederate States Navy​
Roles: Blockade Breaking, Blue Water Operations, Fleet Support, Hunter, Direct-Attack, Specialized / Utility​
Length of Service: 64 days​
(From date of Launch, to date Scuttled. Includes 25 days of repairs and upgrades completed in dry dock, March / April 1862)​
Commanding Officers:
- Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan - February 24 to March 8, 1862​
He was wounded by shrapnel on first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads​
- The Executive Officer, Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones - March 9th​
A temporary command for second day of the Battle of Hampton Roads, including the duel with U.S.S. Monitor
- Flag Officer Josiah Tattnall - March 25 until May 11​
He ordered the ship destroyed to keep it out of Union hands.​
Compliment: 320 officers and men​
Victories: 2 Ships Sunk or Destroyed, 3 Ships Damaged or Run Aground, 3 Un-named Transports Destroyed​
U.S.S. Cumberland - Sunk after Ramming, Shelling, March 8​
Three Union Transports Destroyed, March 8​
U.S.S. Congress - Run Aground, Shelled, Surrendered, Destroyed by Fire, March 8​
U.S.S. Minnesota - Run Aground, Damaged by Shot, March 8 & 9​
U.S.S. St. Lawrence - Damaged by Shot, March 8​
U.S.S. Dragon - Severely Damaged by Shot, March 9​
Sorties: 5​
March 8 - Maiden Voyage. Engagement with U.S.S. Cumberland and U.S.S. Congress at Hampton Roads​
March 9 - Engagement with U.S.S. Monitor at Hampton Roads​
April 11 - The Virginia enters Hampton Roads. Federal transports flee the harbor to the protection of Fort Monroe. U.S.S. Monitor stays in the channel but does not accept the Virginia's challenge.​
May 8 - C.S.S. Virginia steams down the Elizabeth River from Gosport Navy Yard to contest the Navy’s advance and stays out of Hampton Roads hoping to engage U.S.S. Monitor.​
May 11 - Attempting to escape up the James River, after Gosport is reclaimed by the Union Army, the Virginia can't be made light enough to travel as far as planned up the shallow part of the river. Trapped, with no escape, the ship was scuttled, and fired, causing a great explosion, destroying the ship.​
Fate:
Scuttled and destroyed by fire/explosion to prevent capture by Union Forces near Craney Island, Virginia on May 11, 1862.​
Current Disposition:
The wreck of the Virginia was largely removed in sections between 1866 and 1876.​
The anchor and propeller shaft of the Virginia can be seen at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia​


Specifications

Length: 275 feet​
Beam: 38 ft 6 inches​
Depth of Hold: 22 feet​
Draft:
22 feet fully loaded​
about 19 1/2 feet with ballast and coal removed​
Displacement: 4,500 tons​
Propulsion:
Previously condemned by the U.S. Government, and recovered from the muddy riverbed​
Heating was provided by 16 furnaces​
Steam provided by 4 Martin type fire-box coal boilers, with an average steam pressure of 18 lbs.​
Power created by 2 West Point Foundry built, horizontal, back acting, two cylinder, 72" diameter piston, 3' stroke, steam engines, able to produce a combined estimated 1,300 shaft horsepower​
1 twin-bladed Griffith’s screw propeller measuring 17 feet 4 inches in diameter​
Speed: typical maximum 5 knots​
Range: about 150 miles​
Turning Circle: Radius of about 1 mile, completing a full circle in about 45 minutes​
Armor:
Deck - 4 inch Iron Plate​
Casemate - 24-inch oak reinforced by a 2x2 inch layer of iron plate angled at 36 degrees from horizontal​
Skirt - 1-inch iron plate under the casemate, to the waterline prior to Battle of Hampton Roads; or 2-inch iron plate below the casemate down 3 feet below the waterline after reinforcement​
(depending on the situation, the Virginia did expose some of it's lower wood hull above the waterline)​
Armament:
two 12-pounder deck howitzers were placed on each side nearest the furnaces​
two 7-inch Brooke rifles mounted on bow and stern pivots, each weighting in at 14,500 pounds​
two 6.4-inch Brooke rifles positioned along the port and starboard sides for firing broadside volleys​
six 9-inch Dahlgren Shell Guns salvaged from the old Merrimack
one 2-foot long 1,500 lb. iron ram, attached to the bow of the ship, mounted 2-feet below the surface of the water​
Actually the CSS VIRGINIA was 262.9 feet in length...275 ft. was the length of the original USS MERRIMACK. The conversion process shortened the vessel.
 
Yeah, I don't think the renaming was widely known in the North (or the South either, it seems). It is indeed most proper to call the recommissioned ship C.S.S. Virginia, but the error in continuing to call her Merrimack is an entirely understandable and natural one; and as it appears that way in most contemporary accounts, that's what generally stuck.
 
Thus, C.S.S. Virginia and Monitor
The controversary concerning the CSS VIRGINIA will always be very perplexing. Federal newspapers like the sound of the MERRIMAC (even with this incorrect spelling) and MONITOR. During the postwar era, some of the crew members referred to their ironclad as the MERRIMAC. I wrote a detailed Appendix about this topic in my CSS VIRGINIA book which I think answers all questions anyone might have about the Confederate ironclads proper name...CSS VIRGINIA.

JVQ
 
I noted about the damage the CSS VIRGINIA wrought on 8-9 March 1862. So, here goes what my research indicates:
Transports: REINDEER, captured; WHILDEN sunk; and ARRAGO sunk.
Capital ships: Sunk: USS CONGRESS and USS CUMBERLAND. Damaged: USS ST. LAWRENCE, USS MINNESOTA, and USS MONITOR
Gunboats/tugs: Sunk: USS DRAGON (later raised). Damaged: USS ZOUAVE and USS WHITEHALL

No other ironclad in the Confederate navy appeared a record like the VIRGINIA. That is why 'ram fever' was born.

JVQ
 
I noted about the damage the CSS VIRGINIA wrought on 8-9 March 1862. So, here goes what my research indicates:
Transports: REINDEER, captured; WHILDEN sunk; and ARRAGO sunk.
Capital ships: Sunk: USS CONGRESS and USS CUMBERLAND. Damaged: USS ST. LAWRENCE, USS MINNESOTA, and USS MONITOR
Gunboats/tugs: Sunk: USS DRAGON (later raised). Damaged: USS ZOUAVE and USS WHITEHALL

No other ironclad in the Confederate navy appeared a record like the VIRGINIA. That is why 'ram fever' was born.

JVQ
Good details! I was looking for something like this.

I knew USS DRAGON was hit in the boiler by a shell and either the boiler pressure caused an explosion, or the shell exploded. The description I read about DRAGON didn't elaborate. I also didn't realize DRAGON sank and was raised, but it makes perfect sense from the description of the damage. I guess since that's not part of the of the Main Act, most writers don't put much emphasis on those details....
 
I noted about the damage the CSS VIRGINIA wrought on 8-9 March 1862. So, here goes what my research indicates:
Transports: REINDEER, captured; WHILDEN sunk; and ARRAGO sunk.
Capital ships: Sunk: USS CONGRESS and USS CUMBERLAND. Damaged: USS ST. LAWRENCE, USS MINNESOTA, and USS MONITOR
Gunboats/tugs: Sunk: USS DRAGON (later raised). Damaged: USS ZOUAVE and USS WHITEHALL

No other ironclad in the Confederate navy appeared a record like the VIRGINIA. That is why 'ram fever' was born.

JVQ

Hi John! I somehow missed the fact you were posting as a CWT member! Welcome to the fleet-- er, community! XD I had the honor of meeting you a couple of years ago when I grabbed an opportunity to go inside the Monitor's turret tank when they drained it for a bit. Your (signed) Sink Before Surrender and The Monitor Boys occupy a proud position on my shelves. :thumbsup:
 
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