CSS HUNTSVILLE
IrcStFlBtry:
l. 150';
dr. 7';
s. 4 k.;
cpl. 40;
a. 4 32-pdr.;
type Heavy ALBERMARLE
HUNTSVILLE, launched 7 February at Selma, was completed at Mobile Ala., and commissioned in 1863, Lt. J. Myers, CSN, in command. Although designed an ironclad she was only partially armored. Owing to defective engines and the lack of a full complement of guns HUNTSVILLE rendered no active service although she guarded the waters around Mobile. After the battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864 she escaped up the Spanish River only to be sunk 12 miles from Mobile on 12 April 1866 upon the evacuation of that city.
HUNTSVIILE was a propeller ordered by the Confederate Navy from Henry D. Bassett, 1 May 1862 for $100,000 and delivered about 1 August 1863. Her high-pressure engines are believed to have been transferred from a river steamer, although it had been intended to supply them from Columbus, Ga., Naval Iron Works, commanded by Lts. Julian Myers and James McC. Baker, CSN. Her armor plate was delivered at Mobile by Shelby Iron Co. and Schofield & Markham of Atlanta.
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CSS TENNESSEE
IrcRam:
t. 1,273;
l. 209';
b. 48';
dr. 14';
cpl. 133;
a. 2 7" r., 4 6.4" r.;
type COLUMBIA, modified
TENNESSEE, a slow-moving ironclad ram, was built at Selma, Ala., where she was commissioned on 16 February 1864, Lt. J. D. Johnston, CSN, in command. BALTIC towed her to Mobile where she fitted out for action. TENNESSEE was laid down in October 1862, hull and other woodwork turned out by Henry D. Bassett, who launched her the following February, ready for towing to Mobile to be engined and armed. Her steam plant came from ALONZO CHILD (q.v.); only casemate design differed materially from COLUMBIA and TEXAS (#5 inf.) Her iron mail was the same 2" by 10" plate used on HUNTSVILLE and TUSCALOOSA but triple instead of double thickness. A fearsome detail of her armament was a "hot water attachment to her boilers for repelling boarders, throwing one stream from forward of the casemate and one abaft." The vicissitudes implicit in creating such an ironclad are graphically conveyed by Admiral Franklin Buchanan, writing 20 September 1863 to Secretary Mallory: "The work on the TENNESSEE has progressed for some weeks past, under Mr. Pierce, as fast as the means in his power would permit. There is much delay for want of plate and bolt iron. It was impossible to iron both sponsons at the same time, as the vessel had to be careened several feet to enable them to put the iron on. Even then several of the workmen were waist deep in the water to accomplish it-to careen her, large beams 12 feet square had to be run out of her posts and secured, on which several tons of iron had to be placed, and during the progress of putting on the sponson iron the shield iron could not be put on. The work has been carried on night and day when it could be done advantageously. I visited the NASHVILLE and TENNESSEE frequently and, to secure and control the services of the mechanics, I have had them all conscripted and detailed to work under my orders. Previously, they were very independent and stopped working when they pleased ***" Joseph Pierce referred to was Acting Naval Constructor in the Mobile area. TENNESSEE became flagship of Adm. F. Buchanan, and served gallantly in action in the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. On that morning TENNESSEE and wooden gunboats CSS GAINES, CSS MORGAN, and CSS SELMA, steamed into combat against Adm. D. G. Farragut's powerful fleet of four ironclad monitors and 14 wooden steamers. Unable to ram the Union ships because of their superior speed, TENNESSEE delivered a vigorous fire on the Federals at close range. The Confederate gunboats were sunk or dispersed. Farragut's fleet steamed up into the bay and anchored. Buchanan might have held TENNESSEE under the fort's protection but bravely steamed after the Federal fleet and engaged despite overwhelming odds. The ram became the target for the entire Union fleet. TENNESSEE was rammed by several ships, and her steering chains were carried away by the heavy gunfire. Unable to maneuver, TENNESSEE was battered repeatedly by heavy solid shot from her adversaries. With two of her men killed, Admiral Buchanan and eight others wounded, and increasingly severe damage being inflicted on her, TENNESSEE was forced to surrender. TENNESSEE was taken into the Navy and was later commissioned on 19
August 1865. She was sold at public auction in New Orleans on 27 November 1867.
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CSS TUSCALOOSA
IrcRam:
l. 152';
b. 34;
dph. 10' 6";
dr. 8';
s. 3 k.;
cpl. 120;
a. 1 6.4" r., 3 32-pdr. [planned];
type Heavy ALBEMARLE
CSS TUSCALOOSA, an ironclad floating battery, was launched at Selma, Ala., 7 February 1863. She was designed as a ram to mount four guns and to have the protection of 4-inch iron plating supplied by Schofield & Markham and Shelby Iron Co. Engined before launching, TUSCALOOSA proceeded under her own power to Mobile for completion. Under Commander C. H. McBlair, CSN, she served in the Mobile area until Mobile's capitulation on 12 April 1865 when the Confederates sank her in the Spanish River 12 miles north of the city.
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CSS NASHVILLE
Irc Ram:
l. 271';
b. 62' 6";
dph. 13';
dr. 10' 9";
a. 3 7" r., 1 24-pdr.
CSS NASHVILLE was a large side-wheel steam sloop built by the Confederates at Montgomery, Ala., in 1864 and taken to Mobile for completion. Her first commander was Lt. C. C. Simms, CSN. Still fitting out, she took no part in the battle of Mobile Bay on 6 August 1864, but was one of the vessels formally surrendered by Commodore E. Farrand, CSN, at Nanna Hubba, Ala., on 10 May 1865. Although never finished, she had been heavily armored with triple 2-inch plating forward and around her pilot house, only a single thickness aft and there had been some doubts expressed that her builders might have overestimated her structural strength. Rear Adm. H. K. Thatcher, USN, wrote on 30 June 1866, after survey, "She was hogged when surrendered and is not strong enough to bear the weight of her full armor." He was certain "she could not live in a seaway." NASHVILLE was purchased by the Navy Department and sold at New Orleans, La., on 22 November 1867, her iron sheathing having been removed for naval use.
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CSS PHOENIX
IrcFltBtry:
a. 6 guns
PHOENIX, an ironclad floating battery, was built by the Confederates probably in 1863 and outfitted as a ram. She was sunk at Mobile, Ala., in August 1864 as an obstruction, and later burned.
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The above taken from DANFS
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...dnance-and-naval-foundry.209236/#post-2754707 Article states that Nashville had some work done at Selma.
I'm having no luck confirming anything about Phoenix
@rebelatsea would be one of the posters for this inquiry.
HTHs,
USS ALASKA
Thank you for dropping me in it ! Here is the information on the vessel, from my book.
Name: CSS Memphis / Phoenix
Type: Ironclad side-wheel sloop. Paddles: 2 x 40ft side-wheels Speed: 9 knots
Dimensions: Calculated from the hull measurements taken during the archaeological survey of the wreck.
Dimensions:265ft OA x 75ft EX x 12ft D, 3,381 tons, 10knots calculated
250ft PP x 60ft EX x 13ft DPH
Guns: Intended warrant 7 – 7" double banded Brooke MLR
Armour: intended 4" iron, 40 angle on 24" of timber. The bow is solid for some 10ft and reinforced by iron strips or plates, some still in place in the wreck.
Design: Prime Emmerson Builder: J.T. Shirley & David Dehaven, Selma Ala.
Laid Down: 03/1863 Launched: 1864
History: Two National Archive prints, NH45682 & 3, although captioned as CSS Nashville, show sufficient and marked differences from the original plan and Dahlgren's sketches to in fact depict CSS Phoenix as a transport at Mobile.
Allowing for exaggeration and perspective, the plan above represents the vessel. The hull shape is that of the wreck. Note the considerable differences between her and CSS Nashville. One of a pair constructed at Selma, and often confused with her yard mate described below. CSS Phoenix originated in October 1862 with an instruction from Secretary Mallory to S Barron CSN to build one of more Nashville class gunboats, suggesting Florence Ala as the construction site with John T Shirley as constructor.
Her engines came from the side wheel steamer Capitol. Intended to be named CSS Memphis, she suffered a broken keel at launch and although repaired, consequently was never armoured or armed, but taken to Mobile and used as a transport, sold to a private buyer for use as a blockade runner. Scuttled after her machinery had been removed as an obstruction in Mobile Bay. A Union raiding party tried to blow the casemate off and she was set afire subsequently Her wreck has been discovered and surveyed. The remains of the casemate and paddle housings have not survived, but her hull is intact.
Unnamed side wheel ironclad
The other side wheeler of the pair built by Shirley and Dehaven at Selma Ala, was wrecked beyond repair at launch, and alleged to have been sold for scrap to assist in paying off the contract. Another wreck lying in the obstructions in Mobile harbour is now believed to be the remains of this vessel.
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Addendum:
I have since learned that Phoenix's engines ex Capitol were installed in CSS Montgomery, constructed at Montgomery Alabama.
John L Porter during one of his tours of inspection, told Henry Bassett that he didn't like Huntsville and Tuscaloosa (despite having approved the plans). In particular he objected to the alterations that Joseph Pearce had done to Tuscaloosa, a rehearsal of the Tennessee casemate - which he didn't like either. However he was so pleased with Bassett's Morgan type that he instructed four mor to be built, two at Oven Bluff with four big guns, and two at Charleston with 8 guns.
At Mobile he told Buchanan that he didn't like the Tennessee but he thought well of CSS Nashville.
He also had an acrimonious spat with Buchanan, ending with Porter telegraphing Mallory from Montgomery asking for Buchanan's removal and replacement. but that's another story.
yellowhammernews.com
Bringing the