Ironclad CSS Lady Davis (Research for Modeling)

Tut11

Sergeant
Joined
Jan 24, 2018
Threw the holidays I was able to do research into the Lady Davis as there wasn't much information on this ship. In looking during my research and to my surprise I had found a out of print magazine from the 90's on model ship building which had a huge amount of research on the vessel the author had to do for his model.

Since the publication is out of print and the company no longer exist's there is no problem for me to present the article in it's entirety.

A wood cut image of the CSS Lady Davis:

CSS Lady Davis.png

This is the full article with pictures of the discovered information for modeling purposes for those interested. I have tried to image them as best I can and you will probably have to enlarge them to read the article which I was astounded as to what the Author had to go threw for tracking down the information he used to build his model of her.

9.png


8.png


7.png


6.png


5.png


4.png


3.png


2.png


1.png


1.png


2.png


4.png


6.png


7.png


8.png


9.png


3.png
 
I felt it shouldn't be lost, Lady Davis now has some more info added to her history thanks to the Author and CWT archive.
 
@Tut11

I'd look 1) at contemporary pre-war Philadelphia tugs and 2) try to figure out the Lady Davis' dimensions.

Compare this period drawing of the Lady Davis, with crew for scale (which claims she was 250 tons displacement)
source http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86452.htm

Now look at the CSS Teaser (supposedly 64 tons, 80' long), another pre-war tug built in Philadelphia
source https://sites.google.com/site/290foundation/history/11-c-s-s-teaser

To my eye, they look to be about the same size vessels. Both had a 12lber and a heavier gun, just placed differently.

I'd suggest templating off the Teaser, to whatever scale you're planning (1/96th? 1/72nd?)

PS - other than being underpowered for the job, I found no details on the CSS Palmetto State engines' which could - if identified tell more about the Philadelphia tug manufacturer.
 
Last edited:
Separate thought, separate post - I'm still trying to wrap my head around how she could have her engines removed in late 1862, then have a career as a blockade runner and then be turned over to the Light House Board after the war w/o machinery (implying that *something* was installed after her original powerplant was removed).

  • After her engines were transferred to CSS Palmetto State late in 1862, she continued her successful career as a privately owned blockade runner
  • Turned over to the Light House Board by ADM. J. A. Dahlgren, minus her machinery, whose disposition is not recorded.
 
Separate thought, separate post - I'm still trying to wrap my head around how she could have her engines removed in late 1862, then have a career as a blockade runner and then be turned over to the Light House Board after the war w/o machinery (implying that *something* was installed after her original powerplant was removed).

  • After her engines were transferred to CSS Palmetto State late in 1862, she continued her successful career as a privately owned blockade runner
  • Turned over to the Light House Board by ADM. J. A. Dahlgren, minus her machinery, whose disposition is not recorded.
Possibly Adm. Dahlgren or a salvage crew dismantled the newer machinery at the close of the war. If no new machinery was outfitted, she was a sailing vessel without the back-up.
Lubliner.
 
Possibly Adm. Dahlgren or a salvage crew dismantled the newer machinery at the close of the war. If no new machinery was outfitted, she was a sailing vessel without the back-up.
Lubliner.

Yeah, I can't see how that jury-rig would work and still be successful at blockade running. Maybe a salvaged railroad steam engine?
 
@Tut11

I'd look 1) at contemporary pre-war Philadelphia tugs and 2) try to figure out the Lady Davis' dimensions.

Compare this period drawing of the Lady Davis, with crew for scale (which claims she was 250 tons displacement)
source http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86452.htm

Now look at the CSS Teaser (supposedly 64 tons, 80' long), another pre-war tug built in Philadelphia
source https://sites.google.com/site/290foundation/history/11-c-s-s-teaser

To my eye, they look to be about the same size vessels. Both had a 12lber and a heavier gun, just placed differently.

I'd suggest templating off the Teaser, to whatever scale you're planning (1/96th? 1/72nd?)

PS - other than being underpowered for the job, I found no details on the CSS Palmetto State engines' which could - if identified tell more about the Philadelphia tug manufacturer.

Thanks @Story , the information is needed. Never thought of the Teaser cross reference for The Lady.
 
Don't know if this helps or hinders but Palmetto State's engines are described as" 2 single cylinder horizontal direct acting from the CSS Lady Davis ex steam tug James Gray.

It does - even partial clues move us collectively towards a definitive answer. Kinda like how the Intel types work up a targeting list.

A simple search based on your relayed description brought up this as a hit (with the addition of the word "Philadelphia")
Abstract “How A Vessel of This Magnitude Was Moved”: A Comparative Analysis of Confederate Ironclad Steam Engines, Boilers, and Propulsion Systems by Saxon T. Bisbee November 2012 Director: Dr. Bradley A. Rodgers Department of History

1) 301 pages, it's before 09.00 here and I'm just working on my first cup of coffee.
2) That's neat in a general sense.
3) At first glance, it's going to require our collective dissection but I found this advert/caption on p.143 interesting.
FIGURE IV.10. Advertisement for Reaney, Neafie & Co.’s Penn Steam Engine and Boiler Works in Philadelphia circa 1854, the largest builder of propeller-driven ships in the United States by the time of the Civil War
(ExplorePAhistory.com 2011; courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia)


4) So, after a couple of cups of coffee... p.144-145

The Charleston-built ironclad Palmetto State also had single-cylinder tugboat machinery like its sister Chicora, but was equipped with two horizontal engines. These were taken from the small gunboat Lady Davis, formerly the Richmond iron-hulled tug James Gray (Figure IV.11). This single-screw vessel, also known by the possible yard name Tompkins, was built in 1857 at Philadelphia (Mariners’ Museum MS102 [Folder 5]:211). Again, the builder of this ship and its engines was Reaney, Neafie & Company. Palmetto State was like Chicora: reliable but underpowered. Its twin single-cylinder engines were certainly a more powerful system than that on Chicora, but were still too weak to speedily propel a heavy 175-foot long ironclad. The rest of Palmetto State’s machinery was manufactured and installed by Cameron & Co., a large Charleston foundry exceeded in size and output only by the Eason establishment.

Cameron & Co. was widely known as the Phoenix Iron Works after a major rebuild following a fire in 1850. Its origins actually dated back to John Johnson’s “air furnace” of 1802. By 1860, the Phoenix works consisted of a two-furnace foundry and carpenter, pattern, boiler making, finishing, and machine shops fitted with all the latest equipment (Lander 1960:332). When Archibald Cameron acquired control of the company early in the war, the iron works could boast of having manufactured steam engines, drydock components, and contracted work with the Charleston and Savannah Railroad (Wexler 2008:14).
 
Last edited:
Crop from the Flagship Models instruction sheet.
pcAXWN9.jpg

*Real* quick-n-dirty comparison with the Lady Davis print, assuming same/close O.A.L.
Differences I see:
Stack height
Breezeway between crew quarters and engine room
Structure on fantail​
YtZrvL2.jpg


PS - the wheelhouse reminds me of that found on the Harriet Lane.
aDBYvnT.jpg

YtZrvL2.jpg
 
Last edited:
So, using @rebelatsea's breadcrumb we get "Reaney, Neafie & Company tugboat" for a search pattern.

This circa 1855 colored print is an advertisement for the services provided in the harbor of Philadelphia by the steam tugs Columbus and Alert, operated by the firm of S. Flanagan. The Columbus is depicted in the foreground, breaking the ice with a square-rigged ship in tow. The foggy view includes the helmsman in the wheelhouse of the Columbus, and a man swinging open a door on the port side of the cabin. The steam tug Alert is visible in the left background, along with the horizon of Philadelphia. The lower left- and right-hand corners of the print offer information about the size and capabilities of the tugs, including their length, breadth, depth, tonnage, engine high pressure, diameter of (engine) cylinder, stroke of piston, and horsepower.

Look familiar?
iqXBKxr.jpg


So, standard Philadelphia tugs circa 1855 look to be 82' with a 19' beam and @ 105 tons. @Tut11 I think those are your parameters.

tceHImT.jpg


From one of our other photo dissections.
kmDfBrm.jpg

100 HP? Yeesh.
 
Last edited:
It does - even partial clues move us collectively towards a definitive answer. Kinda like how the Intel types work up a targeting list.

A simple search based on your relayed description brought up this as a hit (with the addition of the word "Philadelphia")
Abstract “How A Vessel of This Magnitude Was Moved”: A Comparative Analysis of Confederate Ironclad Steam Engines, Boilers, and Propulsion Systems by Saxon T. Bisbee November 2012 Director: Dr. Bradley A. Rodgers Department of History

1) 301 pages, it's before 09.00 here and I'm just working on my first cup of coffee.
2) That's neat in a general sense.
3) At first glance, it's going to require our collective dissection but I found this advert/caption on p.143 interesting.
FIGURE IV.10. Advertisement for Reaney, Neafie & Co.’s Penn Steam Engine and Boiler Works in Philadelphia circa 1854, the largest builder of propeller-driven ships in the United States by the time of the Civil War
(ExplorePAhistory.com 2011; courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia)


4) So, after a couple of cups of coffee... p.144-145

The Charleston-built ironclad Palmetto State also had single-cylinder tugboat machinery like its sister Chicora, but was equipped with two horizontal engines. These were taken from the small gunboat Lady Davis, formerly the Richmond iron-hulled tug James Gray (Figure IV.11). This single-screw vessel, also known by the possible yard name Tompkins, was built in 1857 at Philadelphia (Mariners’ Museum MS102 [Folder 5]:211). Again, the builder of this ship and its engines was Reaney, Neafie & Company. Palmetto State was like Chicora: reliable but underpowered. Its twin single-cylinder engines were certainly a more powerful system than that on Chicora, but were still too weak to speedily propel a heavy 175-foot long ironclad. The rest of Palmetto State’s machinery was manufactured and installed by Cameron & Co., a large Charleston foundry exceeded in size and output only by the Eason establishment.

Cameron & Co. was widely known as the Phoenix Iron Works after a major rebuild following a fire in 1850. Its origins actually dated back to John Johnson’s “air furnace” of 1802. By 1860, the Phoenix works consisted of a two-furnace foundry and carpenter, pattern, boiler making, finishing, and machine shops fitted with all the latest equipment (Lander 1960:332). When Archibald Cameron acquired control of the company early in the war, the iron works could boast of having manufactured steam engines, drydock components, and contracted work with the Charleston and Savannah Railroad (Wexler 2008:14).
I have Mr Bisbee's original thesis and the book is a print of that with no updates or corrections that I can find.
 
Interesting coincidence, last night I was reviewing the Official Records of the Navy and in Volume 1, Series 1 (1-1) I came across Lady Davis and report of her first capture near Charleston, page 33.
On June 22, 1861 Daniel Hood, ESQ., wrote to W. P. Fessenden, about the capture of ship A. B. Thompson by the Lady Davis.
Having left Savannah on the 21at, the A. B. Thompson of Brunswick, Maine was taken off Port Royal Sound by the steamer Lady Davis, commanded by Captain Pelot, and taken to Beaufort, S. C.
Lubliner.
 
Back
Top