Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

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Confederate Navy is not forgotten
Yes, the Confederate States of America had a navy. Not only did the ships travel the high seas, they also operated on the rivers flowing through Dixie. There are today in several locations throughout the South the remnants of ships, gunboats and submarines which were a part of the navy of the Confederacy. There is a Confederate Naval Museum located in Columbus, Georgia. The city constructed the museum after two Confederate ships, The CSS Jackson (ironclad) and the CSS Chattahoochee (gunboat), were found in the Chattahoochee River during a drought when the river was very low.
by neshobademocrat.com :: 2008-07-14 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Columbus' National Civil War Naval Museum building replica of the USS Water Witch
Columbus' National Civil War Naval Museum is rebuilding the USS Water Witch, the Union warship Confederate commandos seized on June 3, 1864. Rebuilding costs $1.2m, of which the museum has raised over $800,000. It's now trying to get folks to donate $350,000 more. On a rainy night in 1864, 130 rebel raiders stormed aboard the Water Witch, overtaking the crew of 65 in a bloody battle of swords and revolvers. The Confederates lost both their leader Navy Lt. Thomas Pelot, and Moses Dallas, the slave they employed as a pilot. The rebels had planned to run the ship to Savannah and break the Union blockade - Instead they ran it aground.
by ledger-enquirer.com :: 2008-07-06 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Divers offer glimpse of Confederate blockade runner Kate Dale
Florida Aquarium dive teams have confirmed that a long-submerged wreck in the Hillsborough River is that of the Kate Dale, the first Confederate blockade runner ever found in Florida. In 1863, there were 3 blockade runners in Florida. All 3 were destroyed, two of them by fire. For almost two years, these crews have been exploring this underwater wreckage in the Hillsborough River. They had a suspicion it was the Kate Dale, and findings they finally discovered confirm it is. The wreckage will remain in the river, but the Florida Aquarium is planning about creating a replica.
by myfoxtampabay :: 2008-05-28 :: Wrecks: Civil War-era

Report: Monitor Marine Sanctuary condition is good
Federal report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the health of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary gives good marks to the condition of the historic Civil War wreck and the marine resources that have grown up around it. But it also voices concern about the threat of future damage to the ironclad warship from such human activities as illegal anchoring, looting and stray fishing nets - not to mention natural deterioration. "For a shipwreck that's been sitting in salt water for nearly 150 years, the old girl is still in pretty good shape," said Dave Alberg.
by dailypress :: 2008-05-16 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Confederate boats prepare to sink the USS Underwriter
When the Confederate navy resolved to take out the Union gunboat Underwriter in 1864, they meant it as a literal thing. Daniel Conrad was among the men selected for the secret mission. 10 small boats and 120 men would take part, "every one of whom were young, vigorous, fully alive and keen for the prospective work." At sundown they encamped on an island, and "in distinct and terse terms" heard their instructions from Commander J. Taylor Wood - a naval officer known for daring feats. The plan was simple: 10 boats would board the Underwriter from two sides. Using small arms and surprise to capture her, they would build up her steam, and sail her away.
by newbernsj :: 2008-02-20 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Wolf-Infested Waters: Confederate raider harassed Union Navy
In 1863, the Cape Malay people of South Africa were so impressed with the CSS Alabama that they wrote a folk song to the Confederate raider and her captain Raphael Semmes. Stephen Fox has written a tribute "Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama by Stephen Fox" a history of Semmes and the ship he used to cause so much difficulty for Union shipping. The Alabama seldom had to use her guns, and she only twice came into contact with the Union Navy. She preyed on civilian shipping and whalers, capturing and burning 52 ships, sinking 1, bonding 9 and disposing of 3 others in various fashion.
by internetpundit.com :: 2008-01-07 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Steamer Natchez No. 5's replica to join Vicksburg museum display
At the beginning of the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis asked steamboat man Thomas P. Leathers to head up the South's naval operations on the Mississippi. Leathers refused, but did serve the Confederacy by carrying troops on vessels that included a steamer known as the Natchez No 5. Now a replica of the No. 5 is on display at the Vicksburg Battlefield Museum. The model is one of 250 boat and ship models at museum, which also introduces visitors to the campaign for Vicksburg through maps and 30min film "The Vanishing Glory". The No. 5 is less famous than its successor, the Natchez No. 6, which lost a Mississippi River race in 1870 to the Robert E. Lee.
by katc :: 2008-01-04 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Gunboat Water Witch sailed under both Confederate and Union flag
Captured by Confederate sailors in a bloody sneak attack in 1864, the gunboat Water Witch became one of the few Civil War ships to sail under the flags of both the Confederate and Union navies. Archaeologists say they found strong evidence they've located the Water Witch's wreckage buried under over 10 feet of mud in the Vernon River south of Savannah. Divers pushed a 20-foot metal rod through the mud and tapped solid wood and metal underneath. It was the same location where an 1865 map showed Confederate sailors burned the ship to prevent Union General William T. Sherman's army from recapturing it.
by harpgamer.com :: 2007-10-29 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Sunken Confederate ship Acadia resurfaces - Civil War naval history
Lifelong Civil War buff Henry McCabe said it's been more than 30 years since the wreckage of the Confederate side-wheeler Acadia has been visible in the Yazoo River. "It was about 2-3 weeks ago when I saw it for the first time. I saw that axle sticking up in the river." The Confederates sunk the Acadia between June 4 and July 15, 1863. The scuttling of ships was intended to prevent the ships from falling into the hands of advancing Union forces. According to "Steamboats and the Cotton Economy" by Harry P. Owens, the Acadia was 188-feet-long, 35-feet-wide and had a 7-foot draft and was used as a cotton boat.
by zwire :: 2007-08-27 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama
At the beginning of the Civil War the U.S. had a merchant marine that was second only to Great Britain's. By the end of the war the nation was no longer a maritime power, except in its Navy, which would be radically reduced in size. This profound change had been brought about by Confederate naval strategy. It was perhaps the South's greatest victory. "Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama" by Stephen Fox is a retelling of the most famous implementation of that strategy, the cruise of the CSS Alabama under Captain Raphael Semmes. Handful of Confederate ships, under bold and skilled captains, took about 200 U.S.-flagged vessels.
by americanheritage :: 2007-07-31 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Plaque marking the torpedo warfare during the American Civil War
A band of men and gunpowder to turn the St. Johns River into a war zone during a dark spring night in 1864. That April, one of dozen improvised torpedoes seeding the water sank the Union Army steamer Maple Leaf - sparking a summer of detonations that struck a death knell for ships. Exploding devices such as naval mines were called torpedoes at that time. "People coming here, people moving down here don't really know how involved Jacksonville was in the Civil War," said Calvin Hart, adjutant of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Kirby-Smith Camp 1209. The group and Orange Park officials will erect a plaque to the history of torpedo warfare on the St. Johns River.
by jacksonville :: 2007-06-23 :: Weapons: Rifles, Muskets - Civil War

Odd replica of CSS Shenandoah - Confederate flag around the world
Rodney Lohr could have bought Popsicle sticks to build a replica of a Civil War ship, but "Where's the fun in that?" So, he licked his way through 900 frozen pops. Then he washed, dried and sanded the pieces and went to work to re-create the CSS Shenandoah, the only ship to carry the Confederate flag around the world. But he didn't have a diagram how to build a model version of a steamship, so he looked at photos. 3 years later, he put the finishing touches on a replica that's 5 feet long and 3 feet high, with 18 hand-sewn sails and rigging so intricate, he used tweezers to tie it together.
by fredericksburg :: 2007-06-22 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Preservation of CSS Neuse - One of three Civil War era ironclads left
Efforts to preserve a Civil War warship CSS Neuse in Lenoir County could be getting a $500,000 boost from the state. The money is less than what was requested, and even less than what House budget writers had recommended. Top House Appropriations Committee chairs had recommended a 1-time appropriation of $750,000 for the CSS Neuse. The Appropriations Committee lowered that to $500,000. "It's one of 3 Civil War era ironclads left in the world." Warship sits under a shelter but the air and humidity cause damage to the ship. Plans call for the Neuse to be taken from the current site and moved to the Civil War Museum on Queen Street.
by newbernsj :: 2007-05-16 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Excerpt: Last Flag Down: Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship
Never in the history of armed national conflict, had the investment of hope in a handful of gallant and daring individuals seemed so utterly pointless, so drastically out of scale. Their goals were manifold, and breathtaking: to rip a hole in the skin of the Federal blockade and thus open up channels of desperately needed arms and goods flowing from England to Dixie; to cripple Yankee shipping, along with the economically vital Yankee whaling fleet; ... and, in sum, to shock and disable Abraham Lincoln's war machine as traumatically as Stonewall Jackson's infantry had shocked it at Bull Run and Chancellorsville.
by usatoday :: 2007-04-30 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Documentary: Battle of the ironclads
What I like best about WHRO's new documentary on the Civil War battles in Hampton Roads is the blow-by-blow account of the 4-hour clash of the ironclads Monitor and Virginia on March 9, 1862. Producer Cynthia Pardy took what could have been just another stodgy history lesson and turned it into something remarkable by using nifty special effects while applying sharp, crisp pacing to the scenes of the ironclads battling bow to bow. "It took a lot of searching the archives to illustrate the documentary." With precious few photographs available from the early 1860s, Pardy had to improvise in retelling the epic adventure.
by hamptonroads :: 2007-03-03 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Fort Fisher Falls - the last major Southern seaport
A big break for the Union in the American Civil War occurred on January 15, 1865, the U.S. Navy and Army finally took Fort Fisher, which guarded the entrance to the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. The capture deprived blockade-running merchant ships of access to Wilmington, the last major Southern seaport still in Confederate hands. Near the end of 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee had written "Hold Fort Fisher or I cannot subsist my army." With provisions and matériel from abroad now cut off, the collapse of the Confederacy became not just inevitable but imminent.
by americanheritage :: 2007-01-17 :: Battles and Battlefields - American Civil War

The first blockade runner built in 150 years
A new attraction is coming to downtown Wilmington. A Civil War style blockade runner ship will eventually be docked on the Cape Fear River. Pictures of the proposed boat were revealed at the boat building shop. Supporters dressed in Civil War style clothing to set the mood for the announcement. Students will build the 60 to 85 foot boat that features steam engines, planning to use it to give tours up and down the river. The ship will be the first blockade runner built in 150 years, and it is expected to cost $7.5-million.
by wect :: 2006-12-11 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Naval historians examine war at sea
John Wilkinson, who would later become a captain in the Confederate Navy, "resigned his U.S. Navy commission on April 6, 1861, in a letter to Abe Lincoln," according to one speaker. "He served in the Mexican War on the USS Saratoga with future Union Navy Adm. David Glasgow Farragut." John Wilkinson was captured in Louisiana after the fall of New Orleans. Paroled following several months as a POW, he became a successful blockade runner for the Confederacy. "His naval tactics to avoid capture included doing the unexpected. The general idea was to wait for a moonless night before making a run past the blockaders. He ran out during a full moon and made it!"
by fredericksburg :: 2006-09-18 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

In a 13-month a Confederate raider captured 38 vessels
The voyage of the CSS Shenandoah: In a 13-month a Confederate raider compassed the globe, captured 38 vessels, burnt 32 and ransomed 6. In 1860, the United States had one of the largest fleets in the world. Five years later, U.S. merchant ships had declined in numbers. Part of this was the direct result of depredations by Confederate raiders. Lincoln condemned the raiders' actions as acts of piracy. But the Confederates were only doing what the fledgling U.S. had done in both previous wars. Because the Confederacy had no tradition of blue-water maritime prowess, it for the most part resorted to purchasing vessels abroad and converting them into warships.
by fredericksburg :: 2006-09-11 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

How much the Union naval blockade crippled the Confederacy
The three tasks of the Union navy, as James M. McPherson explained it, were (1) maintaining the Union blockade of Confederate ports; (2) conducting combined operations with the Union army in coastal areas; and (3) engaging in fleet or single-ship actions with Confederate ships, especially ships raiding Union commerce on the high seas. -- So, how much did the blockade hurt the South? Accoring to postwar admission by a Confederate naval officer the blockade shut the Confederacy off from the world and supplies. But some said, "The so-called blockade was a monstrous fiction, Old Abe's practical joke on the war." What are we to make of these contrasting claims?
by fredericksburg :: 2006-09-04 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Rebel navy exhibit at the Museum of the Confederacy
Where was the last shot of the Civil War fired? Off the coast of Alaska. Where did the last Confederate armed force surrender? The last Confederate flag was lowered in Liverpool, England. And the same Confederate unit, the CSS Shenandoah, was involved in both. On June 28, 1865, the Shenandoah unknowingly fired the last shot of the war at a Yankee whaler in Alaskan waters. Learning from a British vessel on Aug. 2 that the Confederacy had lost, the captain canceled the raid. Fearing unjust handling if he took his ship to a U.S. port, Lt. James Waddell sailed 17,000 miles to Liverpool, where he hauled down the last Confederate flag.
by fredericksburg :: 2006-08-07 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Life aboard a Civil War Union warship USS Susquehanna
"Circle of Fire" tells the history of the USS Susquehanna in the American Civil War. The book details life aboard a Union warship, the long hours on watch, dramatic engagements with coastal fortifications and pursuits of elusive blockade-runners and Rebel commerce raiders. The narrative is complemented by many rare photos, maps and engravings of the vessel and the battles she fought in. "Circle of Fire is more than the story of a Union warship ... it is a glimpse into the inner workings of the blockade of the Confederacy."
by prweb :: 2006-07-18 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Confederate warships died a long way from her element
Article no longer available from the original source.
One of the most effective warships that ever flew the Confederate flag died an shameful death, a long way from the Atlantic Ocean where her crew wreaked havoc. The CSS Chickamauga captured more than a dozen merchant ships, caused a financial crisis in New York's shipping agencies, and terrorized ports from Bangor to Philadelphia. Confederate Naval strategists had pushed the idea of commerce raiders since the beginning of the civil war. Rather than taking on the U.S. Navy ships Confederate strategists wanted to cripple the Union Navy, and thereby the Union government, by hitting them in the wallet.
by bladenjournal :: 2006-07-18 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Civil War submarines remain elusive prey
Civil War submarines known to once be in Shreveport but unseen since that conflict continue to elude searchers. "The submarines look like they will stay an enigma for a while," said Ralph Wilbanks, the diver who led underwater efforts that found the Confederate submersible Hunley off Charleston Harbor in 1995. Wilbanks thinks the submarines were abandoned and salvaged after the Civil War. Wilbanks and his crew also made scanning runs over the site of the suspected grave of the Civil War warship Grand Duke, out in the middle of Red River just north of Cross Bayou.
by shreveporttimes :: 2006-03-01 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

Mystery: ID tag of a Union soldier aboard a sunken Confederate sub
An identification tag of a Killingly soldier had been found aboard a sunken Confederate submarine in Charleston, SC. Thus began the mystery and the search for answers as to why the dog tag of a Union soldier, Ezra Chamberlin, was on board the Confederate submarine, "H. L. Hunley," which sank in Charleston Harbor February 17, 1864, after ramming an explosive charge into the Union blockade ship "Housatonic" that sank it. The Hunley had been discovered in 1995 by Clive Cussler's National Underwater Agency (NUMA) and raised from the bottom of the harbor on August 8, 2000.
by killinglyhistory :: 2006-01-25 :: Hunley Submarine - Civil War

American Civil War submarine found
A british explorer has found an early submarine that he believes was the inspiration for Nautilus, Captain Nemo's vessel in Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. Colonel John Blashford-Snell discovered the half-submerged, cast-iron wreck off the coast of Panama while searching for ancient ruins. She was built in 1864 by a visionary craftsman, Julius Kroehl, for the Union forces during the American Civil War. But the boat, called Explorer, was never used in the conflict and was subsequently taken to Panama where she was used to harvest pearls.
by timesonline :: 2005-06-06 :: Naval war and blockade - American Civil War

African Americans in the Navy
Blacks have served in the Navy since before there was a republic, but their contributions -- even their numbers -- aren't widely known. Historians note that information about early African Americans in the Navy is skimpy because records were not kept by race until shortly before WW1. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, hundreds of newly freed slaves flocked to Union naval service. By war's end, blacks had served on almost every one of the Union's nearly 700 Navy vessels and six, records said, earned the Medal of Honor for gallantry in combat.
by defense-link :: 2001-05-10 :: Black - Coloured troops - American Civil War

American Civil War in the News is a edited review of American Civil War related news and articles, providing collection of hand-picked 1861-1865 era history.