Question for John Wallis.

[georgew]

Hi John: I've been leafing through your book and on pages 32 and 33 you have a section titled "The January 1862 plan by John L. Porter and William P. Williamson". I'm convinced that this proposal belongs in the string of modifications to the Memphis rams Arkansas and Tennessee. The date is about right for a Union description of the builds at Memphis in their "middle" configuration going from 6-gun broadside ICs to 8-gun casemate designs with single bow and stern chasers exposed on the fore and aft decks. This is the description of Arkansas given to Union correspondents at Memphis after the fall of that city and before the casemate layout modifications made at Yazoo City, doubling the chasers. The hull forms (with allowances for single versus twin propellers) is also a good match for Arkansas and sister at the time Arkansas was ordered up the Yazoo by Gen. Beauregard. The bow configuration is very close to the hull attached casting for the ram as confirmed by the captured unit from Memphis. The secondary projecting ram may have been an alteration made on site. The hull form, particularly the sharpness of the bow is very similar to observations of the Arkansas. What I see is a single screw, slightly extended Arkansas with bulkheading intended for off-shore work. The projected draft of 11 feet appears similar to the design draft of the Memphis boats. I think the key issue is the date of this proposal - it represents another step in the evolution of the Memphis design, prior to the late change into Brown's "GUN BOX".

 

[rebelatsea]

Hi John: I've been leafing through your book and on pages 32 and 33 you have a section titled "The January 1862 plan by John L. Porter and William P. Williamson". I'm convinced that this proposal belongs in the string of modifications to the Memphis rams Arkansas and Tennessee. The date is about right for a Union description of the builds at Memphis in their "middle" configuration going from 6-gun broadside ICs to 8-gun casemate designs with single bow and stern chasers exposed on the fore and aft decks. This is the description of Arkansas given to Union correspondents at Memphis after the fall of that city and before the casemate layout modifications made at Yazoo City, doubling the chasers. The hull forms (with allowances for single versus twin propellers) is also a good match for Arkansas and sister at the time Arkansas was ordered up the Yazoo by Gen. Beauregard. The bow configuration is very close to the hull attached casting for the ram as confirmed by the captured unit from Memphis. The secondary projecting ram may have been an alteration made on site. The hull form, particularly the sharpness of the bow is very similar to observations of the Arkansas. What I see is a single screw, slightly extended Arkansas with bulkheading intended for off-shore work. The projected draft of 11 feet appears similar to the design draft of the Memphis boats. I think the key issue is the date of this proposal - it represents another step in the evolution of the Memphis design, prior to the late change into Brown's "GUN BOX".

Hello George,
The Arkansas pair were begun to a plan by John T Shirley to which both John L Porter and John M Brooke suggested "improvements", and both commenced construction before the date of Porter & Williamson's drawing.
The dimensions and hull configuration are also considerably different to that of Shirley's concept.

History: Sent by Mallory to Cdr Bulloch in January 1862 to England. The plan above by Bob Holcombe has been modified to correspond to the description given by John L Porter. The ship is unique in having hull sides sloped at 80 degrees for 5ft above the waterline, with the casemate sides sloped from there at 55 degrees. The weather deck is surrounded by a bulwark with hinged ports for the two large deck guns. The four quarter guns in the casemate could fire ahead and to each side. The sailing rig is unknown.

Bob Holcombe and the Columbus Museum were the source of information.

For those who haven't seen it, here is the Porter & Williamson plan

John T Shirley's concept:

 

[georgew]

Hello George,
The Arkansas pair were begun to a plan by John T Shirley to which both John L Porter and John M Brooke suggested "improvements", and both commenced construction before the date of Porter & Williamson's drawing.
The dimensions and hull configuration are also considerably different to that of Shirley's concept.

History: Sent by Mallory to Cdr Bulloch in January 1862 to England. The plan above by Bob Holcombe has been modified to correspond to the description given by John L Porter. The ship is unique in having hull sides sloped at 80 degrees for 5ft above the waterline, with the casemate sides sloped from there at 55 degrees. The weather deck is surrounded by a bulwark with hinged ports for the two large deck guns. The four quarter guns in the casemate could fire ahead and to each side. The sailing rig is unknown.

Bob Holcombe and the Columbus Museum were the source of information.

For those who haven't seen it, here is the Porter & Williamson plan

View attachment 334985
John T Shirley's concept:
View attachment 334986

Hi John. Are you sure that the original Shirley proposal featured bow and stern chasers? I also wonder about the shape of the bow. Original or add on after ram Manassas used hers at Head of Passes in October? The original Shirley contract was awarded in September, 1861, two or three weeks before Manassas used her ram. Around December of 1861 Porter and the CSN were distributing information on ironing resistance and encouraging the use of two chasers fore and aft on the bigger projects. Putting the chaser gun crews within the protection of a casemate was an obvious improvement. I suppose what I'm suggesting is that it was period of evolution for nearly all of the CSN projects. Mallory's winter report on projects cites the Memphis rams with six guns, implying that at the time of writing the chasers had not been added yet. Although the casemate of Arkansas was complete in its wooding, gun ports had not yet been made. The use of broadside frigate ports and the radically different oval chaser ports implies a very late decision (May, June 1862?). As a number of foundry components were supplied from NO, I still suspect based upon configuration and size that the chaser ports used on Arkansas may have been done on the pattern of those for the Louisiana. They may have been made redundant on that project when the number of guns was altered. This just may be a case of 'form follows function', but the Porter/Williamson plan, even with its slight tumble-home hull, still appears to me to show the influence of the Memphis boats.

 

[rebelatsea]

Hi John. Are you sure that the original Shirley proposal featured bow and stern chasers? I also wonder about the shape of the bow. Original or add on after ram Manassas used hers at Head of Passes in October? The original Shirley contract was awarded in September, 1861, two or three weeks before Manassas used her ram. Around December of 1861 Porter and the CSN were distributing information on ironing resistance and encouraging the use of two chasers fore and aft on the bigger projects. Putting the chaser gun crews within the protection of a casemate was an obvious improvement. I suppose what I'm suggesting is that it was period of evolution for nearly all of the CSN projects. Mallory's winter report on projects cites the Memphis rams with six guns, implying that at the time of writing the chasers had not been added yet. Although the casemate of Arkansas was complete in its wooding, gun ports had not yet been made. The use of broadside frigate ports and the radically different oval chaser ports implies a very late decision (May, June 1862?). As a number of foundry components were supplied from NO, I still suspect based upon configuration and size that the chaser ports used on Arkansas may have been done on the pattern of those for the Louisiana. They may have been made redundant on that project when the number of guns was altered. This just may be a case of 'form follows function', but the Porter/Williamson plan, even with its slight tumble-home hull, still appears to me to show the influence of the Memphis boats.

John t Shirley proposed a gunboat ram, Bob H thought the ram was integral to the hull, not an add on and It had the two chasers, so lacking any other information I went along with him. It's very possible, indeed certain that Porter "borrowed " ideas from other sources, indeed the vessel we are discussing has a tumblehome not dissimilar the that of the French steam line of battleship Bretagne and his plan for the blockade runner / ironclad bters even stronger French influence.
Arkansas final configuration based on the vessel he was presented with was entirely Isaac Newton Brown's from what I can ascertain. It bears all the hallmarks of his earlier proposed gunboat conversions.