Confederate Navy Achievements

[Dixie Boy]

The Confederate Navy had some great accomplishments like the Hunley Submarine that was entirely man powered, CSS Virginia an ironclad, and getting weopons and supplies through the blockade. But I would like to discuss these and hear about other achievments.

 

[bankerpapaw]

The CSA Alabama comes to mind.

 

[Dixie Boy]

The CSA Alabama comes to mind.

Man I love that ship, I read about it in it's final battle, it apealed to me in a more emotional way the way it was written than anything before. especially how the French folks out there had a band playing Dixie and people with little flags.

 

[rebelatsea]

In terms of technical innovation, Had she gone into service, CSS Mississippi would have been the first triple screwed warship. CSS Missouri had three balanced rudders.

 

[Dilandu]

Sorry, but history of Confederacy Navy as a whole could be generally described as "sometimes they managed to not screw up". Some innovative ideas & some bright officers could not overcame the fact, that Confederacy have no naval doctrine, no naval strategy, and no understanding of naval warfare.

 

[Dixie Boy]

Sorry, but history of Confederacy Navy as a whole could be generally described as "sometimes they managed to not screw up". Some innovative ideas & some bright officers could not overcame the fact, that Confederacy have no naval doctrine, no naval strategy, and no understanding of naval warfare.

Well I would challenge the Naval understanding because their were great things and accomplishments made like the Hunley Submarine, Ironclads like the CSS Virginia which ravaged they fleet out there, The CSS Alabama which had great success.

 

[DaveBrt]

Mallory was a reasonably good administrator of a navy that was already up and running. But he failed to go back to basics and start with the question, Why does the Confederacy need a navy? Following that, What does our navy have to do to fulfill the country's need for a navy? Then, What weapons do we need to achieve those actions we must accomplish?

Instead, he did whatever he thought possible, regardless of how it would fulfill the county's need for a navy. Building a submarine is an example of doing something, but having no effect on the war; it was a tool to be used in fulfilling the country's needs and it failed, as a one-of-a-kind event. Virginia was innovative, expensive and risktaking, but did not fulfill any part of the Confederacy's needs (its home port was certain to be lost and it was too deep drafted to get to Richmond or some other port, and too weak in several respects to be able to go to sea).

American ingenuity created some interesting solutions to naval problems, but that is different from having a navy that could make a difference.

 

[J. D. Stevens]

Ran across this article searching another topic at an online digital newspaper source. The newspaper happens to the the Dallas Herald for April 28, 1863. I make no claims of being well versed in Confederate Naval History, but thought the article was interesting. How accurate it is, I will leave for others to analyze.

 

[Pollaco]

Actually, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, the Hunley was the H.L.Hunley not the C.S.S. Hunley. I don't think it was a Navy vessel.

 

[Poorville]

You're quite right Polloco. In the South, submarines were neither developed nor operated under the CS Navy. The Hunley was developed privately and subsequently operated by the CS Army.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

It probably doesn't qualify as an actual naval achievement but I've always gotten a kick out of the whole quilts-to-gunboat story. Needle achievement, maybe, ladies could kinda sew a gunboat. It's pretty much what it amounted to.

Merrimac seems to have achieved more by freaking everyone out than by actual damage ( yes, I know there was quite a bit of that, too ). Some great stories out there in the era about her abilities- like the killer hornet of the war. Ship was going to steam right up the Potomac and blast everyone right out of the White House, had folks all kinds of stirred up.

 

[Dilandu]

Well I would challenge the Naval understanding because their were great things and accomplishments made like the Hunley Submarine, Ironclads like the CSS Virginia which ravaged they fleet out there, The CSS Alabama which had great success.

Yes, but was those parts of some kind of global strategy or established doctrine? Essentially not. It was "have thing - use thing" kind of approach, without anything more than "we have new toy, let's deploy it fast", and without any long-therm planning besides "inflicting some damage to yankee". Which is not exactly the way it should be done.

 

[Poorville]

Ran across this article searching another topic at an online digital newspaper source. The newspaper happens to the the Dallas Herald for April 28, 1863. I make no claims of being well versed in Confederate Naval History, but thought the article was interesting. How accurate it is, I will leave for others to analyze.

View attachment 368566
View attachment 368567

Thanks for sharing this. I suspect given it originated from the Richmond Dispatch that there is an element of morale boosting so as to show how well the CS Navy was doing in obtaining ships of war that were beyond the capability of southern shipyards.

 

[leftyhunter]

Thanks for sharing this. I suspect given it originated from the Richmond Dispatch that there is an element of morale boosting so as to show how well the CS Navy was doing in obtaining ships of war that were beyond the capability of southern shipyards.

Of course Confedrate morale must of been let down a bit because the Laird Rams Affair didn't end well for the Confederacy but did for the Japanese Navy.
Interestingly enough if a Confedrate newspaper knew the ultimate destination for the Laird Rams it is no wonder that the US Ambassador to the UK Charles Adams knew it has well.
Leftyhunter

 

[Poorville]

Of course Confedrate morale must of been let down a bit because the Laird Rams Affair didn't end well for the Confederacy but did for the Japanese Navy.
Interestingly enough if a Confedrate newspaper knew the ultimate destination for the Laird Rams it is no wonder that the US Ambassador to the UK Charles Adams knew it has well.
Leftyhunter

Hi Leftyhunter, this newspaper reference to the Emperor of China threw me a bit and your mention of the Japanese Navy has too, could you explain please?

 

[leftyhunter]

Hi Leftyhunter, this newspaper reference to the Emperor of China threw me a bit and your mention of the Japanese Navy has too, could you explain please?

The Laird Rams didn't go to the Condfederacy thanks in part to the sharp eye the US Embassy kept on British shipyards not the least of which were the Laird shipyards. The Japanese Navy bought the Laird Rams and used them for a number of years there is a Wiki article on them most likely others as well.
There is a technique in which countries buy arms even if there boycotted or under sanction called " third party transfer" and it was used at least several times by the Confedracy . The warship known as the "Stonewall Jackson" started life in a French shipyard and due to US diplomatic pressure it couldn't be sold to the Confederacy so it was sold to the Dutch who then somehow sold it to the Confederacy but by the time it got close to US waters the war ended so the captain went to Havana and then the US Counsel General purchased the ship from Spain.
The Alabama ,Florida and Shenendoah were technically not war ships but cargo ships and they were equipped with cannon if I remember right if the Azores far from the UK.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

The Confederate Navy had some great accomplishments like the Hunley Submarine that was entirely man powered, CSS Virginia an ironclad, and getting weopons and supplies through the blockade. But I would like to discuss these and hear about other achievments.

Not sure about the Huntley being a great achievement. It sank twice both times killing it's crew. Yes it sank a warship but loosing a whole ship even a small craft is not really something to brag about.
There is a reason that navies didn't use submersible craft until the early 1900s and that is because it didn't make sense to do as they were not safe to operate.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

The Confederate Navy had some great accomplishments like the Hunley Submarine that was entirely man powered, CSS Virginia an ironclad, and getting weopons and supplies through the blockade. But I would like to discuss these and hear about other achievments.

The most essential function of a navy is to protect it's nations waterways from enemy attack and in this function the Confedrate Navy did a very poor job. The Union Navy siezed vital cities such as New Orleans ,New Berne, Wilmington Memphis, Brownsville and others. That's something a navy is supposed to prevent.
Yes the CSS Virginia sank a war ship or two but at the end of the day the Blockade remained.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

The Confederate Navy had some great accomplishments like the Hunley Submarine that was entirely man powered, CSS Virginia an ironclad, and getting weopons and supplies through the blockade. But I would like to discuss these and hear about other achievments.

The blockade was actually very effective considering that the USN didn't have radar, aircraft or search lights. Only ten percent of the Confedrate cotton crop was exported leading to the Lanchishire Cotton Famine.
Yes a blockade runner had only a ten percent chance of being intercepted per each run but Blockade Runners were small and that's a problem.
Yes military supplies did get through but some ended up in Union hands.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

The CSA Alabama comes to mind.

Yes but commerce raiding only goes so far in winning a war. Many US ship owner's sold their ships to foreign owners who in turn could use those ships to ship goods to and from the US without fear from the CSN.
Almost all Confedrate Raiders ended up in Davey Jones Locker except for the Shenendoah in the Bearing Sea which wasn't going to bring the Union to it's knees.
Leftyhunter