Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Shipbuilding in Delaware During the Civil War-- Part 3: Blockade-Runners and Monitors

The Confederacy converted some Wilmington-built ships into blockade-runners.

The Cecile brought in more than 2,000 rifles to the South before it was wrecked on a reef in 1862.

The Wilmington-built Austin became the blockade-runner Donegal and made many runs into Mobile before it was captyred and became a supply vessel in the Union Navy.

For some reason, Wilmington shipyards only received limited construction orders from the U.S. Navy.  Harlan & Hollingsworth reluctantly agreed to construct three Monitor-class ships.  The reason for this was because of the U.S. government's notoriety for not finishing projects quickly.

--Old B-Runner

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