C.S.S. Virginia
"The Rebel Monster"
"The Rebel Monster"
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)
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
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
Featured Videos
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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