Civil War Technology (primarily Naval contexts)

[JohnDLittlefield]

I recently got a copy of Ross 2000, Trial by Fire- Science, Technology, and the Civil War. I find it fascinating. My one critique of the work is the lack of primary sources, particularly in the submarine chapter and associated appendix.
Can anyone recommend another well-cited book, or better yet, a thesis/dissertation, on Civil War technology?

 

[Poorville]

I recently got a copy of Ross 2000, Trial by Fire- Science, Technology, and the Civil War. I find it fascinating. My one critique of the work is the lack of primary sources, particularly in the submarine chapter and associated appendix.
Can anyone recommend another well-cited book, or better yet, a thesis/dissertation, on Civil War technology?

For my level of interest, I have found this 1991 University of Tasmania thesis "The American Civil War and Military Technological Change" of particular interest. Like much of the available work in this area it is skewed towards the army and the author's prime interest is how technology change impacts strategy. That said it makes a valiant attempt to cover the key naval aspects. I have not perused them all, but some of the cited works in the parts covering naval technology change are themselves interesting.

https://eprints.utas.edu.au/18962/1/whole_BowlesMarcusStuart1992_thesis.pdf

 

[JohnDLittlefield]

For my level of interest, I have found this 1991 University of Tasmania thesis "The American Civil War and Military Technological Change" of particular interest. Like much of the available work in this area it is skewed towards the army and the author's prime interest is how technology change impacts strategy. That said it makes a valiant attempt to cover the key naval aspects. I have not perused them all, but some of the cited works in the parts covering naval technology change are themselves interesting.

https://eprints.utas.edu.au/18962/1/whole_BowlesMarcusStuart1992_thesis.pdf

Thanks for sharing this thesis. I read the naval section. Well written and appears to be mostly accurate. Data on David, like most sources that mention the torpedo boat, is a bit flawed (e.g., it was neither an ironclad vessel (although it was later partially sheathed in iron, so perhaps this may seem like simple semantics), nor was it designed by F D Lee).

 

[wausaubob]

The biggest technical innovation in the Civil War was the rapid improvement in telegraph communication. The rate of transmission appears to have been rising, and the big users became more familiar with what to say and not to say.
In naval warfare, give the Rebs credit. Attacking the hulls of ironclad vessels, which were not built with bulkheads, was the way to go and the applied their inventiveness effectively.