Naval Defense, Charleston Harbor, Sept. 1864.

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I found this report in the Official Records of the Army, Series 1, Volume 35, Part II, page 289.
It comes from a confederate deserter, Charles Harris, who swam to Morris Island from the gun-boat Chicora. Pertinent facts follow:

:timebomb:
CSN Chicora- 60 men and officers on board. T. T. Hunter, commander. Four guns, 2 9-inch Dahlgren and 2 7-inch Brooke rifles. The men are armed with rifles, pistols, revolvers, swords &c. The Chicora has 4 rowboats. It can [sail?] about 3 mph. It lays up on the Cooper River a little below the receiving ship.
CSN Palmetto State; ironclad, four guns, 2 9-inch Dahlgren, 2 7-inch Brooke rifles. Boilers are out of order, very slow.
CSN Charleston; ironclad, six guns, two 7-inch pivot guns, the rest unknown caliber. Flagship, fastest, can steam about 4 mph.
CSN Columbia; ironclad, pierced for eight guns, not ready for sea. Built so long that her bow and stern settle in the water and leave her middle high up.
All three boats lay up the Cooper River nearly opposite the Northeastern Railroad Depot. One of these goes on picket every night between the city and Fort Johnson.
Receiving Ship; 150 North Carolina conscripts on board.
Blockade Runners; 4-{Stag, Fox, Druid, Syren}.
Torpedo Boats-8;
these are 8 feet in diameter and 50 feet long; they come to a point at either end, and propelled by steam. These boats all have torpedoes, some 15 or 16 feet in front of the bow.
The 4 ironclads all have torpedoes, with between 60 and 150 pounds of powder in each, placed in front of their bows. They carry 4 or 5 to each boat and are kept in the magazines, which is forward near the bow. The plating is of 2-inch plates all over except the deck, which is one half-inch thick.
Gunboat; reported to be up near Columbus, Georgia, which they are trying to fit out.
💥

Lubliner.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I found this report in the Official Records of the Army, Series 1, Volume 35, Part II, page 289.
It comes from a confederate deserter, Charles Harris, who swam to Morris Island from the gun-boat Chicora. Pertinent facts follow:

:timebomb:
CSN Chicora- 60 men and officers on board. T. T. Hunter, commander. Four guns, 2 9-inch Dahlgren and 2 7-inch Brooke rifles. The men are armed with rifles, pistols, revolvers, swords &c. The Chicora has 4 rowboats. It can [sail?] about 3 mph. It lays up on the Cooper River a little below the receiving ship.
CSN Palmetto State; ironclad, four guns, 2 9-inch Dahlgren, 2 7-inch Brooke rifles. Boilers are out of order, very slow.
CSN Charleston; ironclad, six guns, two 7-inch pivot guns, the rest unknown caliber. Flagship, fastest, can steam about 4 mph.
CSN Columbia; ironclad, pierced for eight guns, not ready for sea. Built so long that her bow and stern settle in the water and leave her middle high up.
All three boats lay up the Cooper River nearly opposite the Northeastern Railroad Depot. One of these goes on picket every night between the city and Fort Johnson.
Receiving Ship; 150 North Carolina conscripts on board.
Blockade Runners; 4-{Stag, Fox, Druid, Syren}.
Torpedo Boats-8;
these are 8 feet in diameter and 50 feet long; they come to a point at either end, and propelled by steam. These boats all have torpedoes, some 15 or 16 feet in front of the bow.
The 4 ironclads all have torpedoes, with between 60 and 150 pounds of powder in each, placed in front of their bows. They carry 4 or 5 to each boat and are kept in the magazines, which is forward near the bow. The plating is of 2-inch plates all over except the deck, which is one half-inch thick.
Gunboat; reported to be up near Columbus, Georgia, which they are trying to fit out.
💥

Lubliner.
If this report is accurate, then it appears that an effort was made to standardize ordnance with a positive effect on supplying munitions. Were Chicora, Palmetto State and Charleston really that slow? When the first two sortied off the city in 1863 it appears that Union blockaders should have been able to escape with ease unless they let their boiler fires get too low. This is the first report I've seen claiming that Columbia was "hogged". As the coal bunkers should have been amidships on the sides of the boilers, perhaps he is talking about a vessel that had not coaled yet. You wonder why the receiving ship had so many aboard unless it was also being used as a hospital. There was a period at NO when the Star of the West was used in this manner.
 
Yes, Chicora and Palmetto State were about that slow. The main reason that they could close with the Union blockaders to begin with is that they attacked out of the cover of morning mist, and that the blockaders were trying to respond aggressively rather than flee; when the Keystone State retreated out of action, even with engine damage she fairly easily outpaced the Confederate rams.

I was under the impression that Columbia "hogged" through a grounding on a trial voyage; I'm not clear if this report is after that incident (she remained grounded until the Federals took possession of the city) or if the hogging was a pre-existing condition; interesting.
 
Yes, Chicora and Palmetto State were about that slow. The main reason that they could close with the Union blockaders to begin with is that they attacked out of the cover of morning mist, and that the blockaders were trying to respond aggressively rather than flee; when the Keystone State retreated out of action, even with engine damage she fairly easily outpaced the Confederate rams.

I was under the impression that Columbia "hogged" through a grounding on a trial voyage; I'm not clear if this report is after that incident (she remained grounded until the Federals took possession of the city) or if the hogging was a pre-existing condition; interesting.
I seem to remember reading that Columbia was damaged by hitting a submerged wreck. Once ran across a comment by an alleged former crew member who essentially stated that the officers of the ironclad were a bit too cheerful from the launch celebrations and not as alert as they should have been.
 
I seem to remember reading that Columbia was damaged by hitting a submerged wreck. Once ran across a comment by an alleged former crew member who essentially stated that the officers of the ironclad were a bit too cheerful from the launch celebrations and not as alert as they should have been.
From "The Southern Iron navy"

CSS Palmetto State: I - 9”SB gun block bored and rifled to 7” forward, one 7” 42pdr Rifled and banded to 80pdr aft. one 9” SB port & starboard. Speed in still water 7.7knots

CSS Chicora: One Tredegar single banded 7” Brooke rifle forward One 7” 42pdr Rifled and banded to 80pdr aft, one 9” SB port & starboard. Speed in still water 7.7knots.

CSS Charleston: One 7” 42pdr rifled and banded to 80ppdr fore and aft, either two 6.4” Brooke MLR or two 6.4” 32pdr rifled and banded to 60pdr port and starboard. speed in still water 8.9knots
These three carried 4" iron plate not 2" over 22" timber (30" on Charleston's casemate front, 24" on the sides and rear). There is a possibility that the armour was British plate.

CSS Columbia:
Struck a snag and bilged whilst coming out of the Ashley River, 12 January 1865. Contrary to received wisdom, the damage to the hull was slight, but her battery and part of the armour was removed in an attempt to lighten her. Captured intact, and towed to Hampton Roads, where the damage was found not to be serious, although the teredo worm had done slight damage at her bilges while grounded. Taken into the USN, although not commissioned, Admiral Dahlgren proposed to fit her with 4 of his new 10inch SB on pivot mounts at the corners of the casemate, with provision to fit two 9” SB in broadside if required. He thought CSS Columbia was a fine ship and a match for their monitors.

NOTES:
Actual speed of the three ships in a seaway or tidal waters, as with all vessels is less than the trial speeds. degree of salinity can also have an affect as generally the higher the salinity the greater buoyancy of a hull.

CSS Columbia as built was pierced for 6 guns, 4 pivots and two broadside, showing ten ports. she actually steamed under her own power down Charleston harbour to the open sea, although it is not clear whether USN engineers or her own under guard, performed the manoeuvre.

CSS Ashley and Cooper reportedly launched in March 1864, so they would have been being fitted out in September. I have doubts about whether both had been launched or just CSS Ashley.

Interestingly, since my book was published we have discovered that NONE of the ships carried Brooke ordnance. The rifled weapons were in fact banded and rifled to Eason's pattern ( as per the three 10" columbiads). They fired projectiles based on the British Britten patent, which could also be fired from Brooke Rifles.
Brooke guns were sent to Charleston for the ironclads but were taken for the shore defences, most notably two 6.4" and the 11" Brooke SB which Beauregard commandeered, intended to replace the two broadside guns on Palmetto State.
The ship had been altered with two extra gunports, leading to silly reports that she carried ten guns - a physical impossibility.

John L Porter on a tour of inspection in 1864 pronounced that he was very pleased with the ships, but changed the pan for the proposed Graves double ender to a "Wilmington".
 
From "The Southern Iron navy"

CSS Palmetto State: I - 9”SB gun block bored and rifled to 7” forward, one 7” 42pdr Rifled and banded to 80pdr aft. one 9” SB port & starboard. Speed in still water 7.7knots

CSS Chicora: One Tredegar single banded 7” Brooke rifle forward One 7” 42pdr Rifled and banded to 80pdr aft, one 9” SB port & starboard. Speed in still water 7.7knots.

CSS Charleston: One 7” 42pdr rifled and banded to 80ppdr fore and aft, either two 6.4” Brooke MLR or two 6.4” 32pdr rifled and banded to 60pdr port and starboard. speed in still water 8.9knots
These three carried 4" iron plate not 2" over 22" timber (30" on Charleston's casemate front, 24" on the sides and rear). There is a possibility that the armour was British plate.

CSS Columbia:
Struck a snag and bilged whilst coming out of the Ashley River, 12 January 1865. Contrary to received wisdom, the damage to the hull was slight, but her battery and part of the armour was removed in an attempt to lighten her. Captured intact, and towed to Hampton Roads, where the damage was found not to be serious, although the teredo worm had done slight damage at her bilges while grounded. Taken into the USN, although not commissioned, Admiral Dahlgren proposed to fit her with 4 of his new 10inch SB on pivot mounts at the corners of the casemate, with provision to fit two 9” SB in broadside if required. He thought CSS Columbia was a fine ship and a match for their monitors.

NOTES:
Actual speed of the three ships in a seaway or tidal waters, as with all vessels is less than the trial speeds. degree of salinity can also have an affect as generally the higher the salinity the greater buoyancy of a hull.

CSS Columbia as built was pierced for 6 guns, 4 pivots and two broadside, showing ten ports. she actually steamed under her own power down Charleston harbour to the open sea, although it is not clear whether USN engineers or her own under guard, performed the manoeuvre.

CSS Ashley and Cooper reportedly launched in March 1864, so they would have been being fitted out in September. I have doubts about whether both had been launched or just CSS Ashley.

Interestingly, since my book was published we have discovered that NONE of the ships carried Brooke ordnance. The rifled weapons were in fact banded and rifled to Eason's pattern ( as per the three 10" columbiads). They fired projectiles based on the British Britten patent, which could also be fired from Brooke Rifles.
Brooke guns were sent to Charleston for the ironclads but were taken for the shore defences, most notably two 6.4" and the 11" Brooke SB which Beauregard commandeered, intended to replace the two broadside guns on Palmetto State.
The ship had been altered with two extra gunports, leading to silly reports that she carried ten guns - a physical impossibility.

John L Porter on a tour of inspection in 1864 pronounced that he was very pleased with the ships, but changed the pan for the proposed Graves double ender to a "Wilmington".
From "The Southern Iron navy"

CSS Palmetto State: I - 9”SB gun block bored and rifled to 7” forward, one 7” 42pdr Rifled and banded to 80pdr aft. one 9” SB port & starboard. Speed in still water 7.7knots

CSS Chicora: One Tredegar single banded 7” Brooke rifle forward One 7” 42pdr Rifled and banded to 80pdr aft, one 9” SB port & starboard. Speed in still water 7.7knots.

CSS Charleston: One 7” 42pdr rifled and banded to 80ppdr fore and aft, either two 6.4” Brooke MLR or two 6.4” 32pdr rifled and banded to 60pdr port and starboard. speed in still water 8.9knots
These three carried 4" iron plate not 2" over 22" timber (30" on Charleston's casemate front, 24" on the sides and rear). There is a possibility that the armour was British plate.

CSS Columbia:
Struck a snag and bilged whilst coming out of the Ashley River, 12 January 1865. Contrary to received wisdom, the damage to the hull was slight, but her battery and part of the armour was removed in an attempt to lighten her. Captured intact, and towed to Hampton Roads, where the damage was found not to be serious, although the teredo worm had done slight damage at her bilges while grounded. Taken into the USN, although not commissioned, Admiral Dahlgren proposed to fit her with 4 of his new 10inch SB on pivot mounts at the corners of the casemate, with provision to fit two 9” SB in broadside if required. He thought CSS Columbia was a fine ship and a match for their monitors.

NOTES:
Actual speed of the three ships in a seaway or tidal waters, as with all vessels is less than the trial speeds. degree of salinity can also have an affect as generally the higher the salinity the greater buoyancy of a hull.

CSS Columbia as built was pierced for 6 guns, 4 pivots and two broadside, showing ten ports. she actually steamed under her own power down Charleston harbour to the open sea, although it is not clear whether USN engineers or her own under guard, performed the manoeuvre.

CSS Ashley and Cooper reportedly launched in March 1864, so they would have been being fitted out in September. I have doubts about whether both had been launched or just CSS Ashley.

Interestingly, since my book was published we have discovered that NONE of the ships carried Brooke ordnance. The rifled weapons were in fact banded and rifled to Eason's pattern ( as per the three 10" columbiads). They fired projectiles based on the British Britten patent, which could also be fired from Brooke Rifles.
Brooke guns were sent to Charleston for the ironclads but were taken for the shore defences, most notably two 6.4" and the 11" Brooke SB which Beauregard commandeered, intended to replace the two broadside guns on Palmetto State.
The ship had been altered with two extra gunports, leading to silly reports that she carried ten guns - a physical impossibility.

John L Porter on a tour of inspection in 1864 pronounced that he was very pleased with the ships, but changed the pan for the proposed Graves double ender to a "Wilmington".
 
Don't forget the two tripke banded 7" Brooke MLRs sent to Charleston for CSS Charleston and appropriated by Beauregard for the coast defense batteries. QUOTE="Charlie Robbins, post: 2164924, member: 16075"]

[/QUOTE]
 
Were Chicora, Palmetto State and Charleston really that slow?
I recently read a report by Francis Lee who stated that the torpedo boats were making about 7 knots, which was dbl that of the gunboats, so, accurate or not, it seems they were at least viewed as doggedly slow.
 
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I found this report in the Official Records of the Army, Series 1, Volume 35, Part II, page 289.
It comes from a confederate deserter, Charles Harris, who swam to Morris Island from the gun-boat Chicora. Pertinent facts follow:

Torpedo Boats-8; these are 8 feet in diameter and 50 feet long; they come to a point at either end, and propelled by steam. These boats all have torpedoes, some 15 or 16 feet in front of the bow.
Lubliner.
IF Torch was discounted, there were in fact 8 torpedo boats (all David-style). However, his dimensions are guestimates. Lengths are pretty close (a couple were about 64 feet), but none were 8 ft in diameter (they varied between 5 and 6 feet), and he over-guestimated the lengths of the spars.
This reference is the only quantification of David-style torpedo boats that is accurate in the ORA or ORN, even considering the surveys that were done after the war. One engineer documented 6 (but he included a large, 160 ft long, cigar-shaped blockade runner, so we can discount that one), but he failed to document three that were scuttled and later raised- bringing the total to 8.
However, David Ebaugh, who designed and built the original David, was building two more David-style boats in Moncks Corner when the city was evacuated (burned by Potter's troops), which makes for a total of 10 David-style boats... all that were ever produced.
 
IF Torch was discounted, there were in fact 8 torpedo boats (all David-style). However, his dimensions are guestimates. Lengths are pretty close (a couple were about 64 feet), but none were 8 ft in diameter (they varied between 5 and 6 feet), and he over-guestimated the lengths of the spars.
This reference is the only quantification of David-style torpedo boats that is accurate in the ORA or ORN, even considering the surveys that were done after the war. One engineer documented 6 (but he included a large, 160 ft long, cigar-shaped blockade runner, so we can discount that one), but he failed to document three that were scuttled and later raised- bringing the total to 8.
However, David Ebaugh, who designed and built the original David, was building two more David-style boats in Moncks Corner when the city was evacuated (burned by Potter's troops), which makes for a total of 10 David-style boats... all that were ever produced.

I seem to remember reading that a pair of TBs burned in the building yard at Savannah (or Wilmington) The yard was on an island in the river. If they were for the Army, then I'd guess David types, but if for the Navy, either Graves or Porter.
 
View attachment 337328

I found this report in the Official Records of the Army, Series 1, Volume 35, Part II, page 289.
It comes from a confederate deserter, Charles Harris, who swam to Morris Island from the gun-boat Chicora. Pertinent facts follow:

:timebomb:
CSN Chicora- 60 men and officers on board. T. T. Hunter, commander. Four guns, 2 9-inch Dahlgren and 2 7-inch Brooke rifles. The men are armed with rifles, pistols, revolvers, swords &c. The Chicora has 4 rowboats. It can [sail?] about 3 mph. It lays up on the Cooper River a little below the receiving ship.
CSN Palmetto State; ironclad, four guns, 2 9-inch Dahlgren, 2 7-inch Brooke rifles. Boilers are out of order, very slow.
CSN Charleston; ironclad, six guns, two 7-inch pivot guns, the rest unknown caliber. Flagship, fastest, can steam about 4 mph.
CSN Columbia; ironclad, pierced for eight guns, not ready for sea. Built so long that her bow and stern settle in the water and leave her middle high up.
All three boats lay up the Cooper River nearly opposite the Northeastern Railroad Depot. One of these goes on picket every night between the city and Fort Johnson.
Receiving Ship; 150 North Carolina conscripts on board.
Blockade Runners; 4-{Stag, Fox, Druid, Syren}.
Torpedo Boats-8;
these are 8 feet in diameter and 50 feet long; they come to a point at either end, and propelled by steam. These boats all have torpedoes, some 15 or 16 feet in front of the bow.
The 4 ironclads all have torpedoes, with between 60 and 150 pounds of powder in each, placed in front of their bows. They carry 4 or 5 to each boat and are kept in the magazines, which is forward near the bow. The plating is of 2-inch plates all over except the deck, which is one half-inch thick.
Gunboat; reported to be up near Columbus, Georgia, which they are trying to fit out.
💥

Lubliner.
The receiving ship noted in the O.P. is the CSS Indian Chief. For some info re: Indian Chief see
CWT thread https://civilwartalk.com/threads/css-indian-chief.157497/#post-2045617

Very little is known about the Indian Chief as Confederate records concerning this ship have not been found to date and are thought to have been destroyed when Charleston was evacuated in February 1865. Many believe the Indian Chief's primary purpose was to receive newly enlisted sailors, train them, and post them to other harbor defending ships which is true. I read somewhere that for the course of the war the Indian Chief was inoperable and stayed in its berth. I'm also under the impression that nearly every sailor not assigned to one of the two fighting ironclads (Chicora and Palmetto State), in the confederate records and for practical administrative purposes are listed as assigned to the Indian Chief (kinda like a mother ship designation), even though such sailors for extended periods were performing work on other schooners, steamers, torpedo boats etc.
 
I seem to remember reading that a pair of TBs burned in the building yard at Savannah (or Wilmington) The yard was on an island in the river. If they were for the Army, then I'd guess David types, but if for the Navy, either Graves or Porter.
I can find no evidence they were David-type, but some evidence that they were a unique design. Graves designed TB for Wilmington and Richmond, with Porter having remarkably similar designs for Mobile, Pee Dee, and possibly Savannah, but the David design, although intended to be used in other cities (by Francis Lee & the Southern Torpedo Company, not Ebaugh), never was.

The Savannah boats, as far as I have been able to discern, were of the style seen in these images... unique.

APP D- KRENSON AND HAWKES YARD BURNING 2- Savannah TB.jpg


Boat captured at Savannah GA.jpg
 
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