Gilbert Elliott's CSS Albemarle-- Part 4: When Completed

The finished Albemarle was 152 feet long and with a 45-foot beam.  "The depth from gun-deck to keel was 9 feet," Elliott noted, "and when launched she drew 6 and one half feet of water, but after being ironed and completed her draught was about 8 feet."

The ram's iron plates were seven inches wide and two inches thick and its 18-foot wooden oak prow was covered with two inches of iron plating as well (all the better for ramming).

The armament  consisted of two  6.4-inch rifled Brooke guns mounted on pivot carriages, each gun able to work three gunports.  Propelled by two 200-hp steam engines, its top speed would be four knots.

--Old B-Ram

Charleston Lab Repairs CSS Pee Dee Cannons-- Part 3:

Dates and Sizes of the Pee Dee cannons:  10-12 foot cannons weighing between 12,000 to 16,000 pounds.  The Brooke cannons were so sophisticated for their time, much like today's cannons.

Each cannon underwent a four-year restoration process where they soaked for two years in a solution to remove corrosive salts then they had to be prepared for outside exhibition..

They will be mounted on replica carriages.

The restoration was paid for by a $200,000 grant from the Drs. Bruse and Lee Foundation in Florence.

The conservation team for the cannons consisted of Johanna Rivera,  Anna Funke, Gyllian Porteous, Virginia Terniscien and Flavia Pouti.

--Old B-Runner

Charleston Lab Restores CSS Pee Dee Cannons-- Part 2

The cannons were ready to be fired and while trying to make sure the shells did not pose a threat to explode, when they turned the key on a brass fuse it fizzled like soda.  A nine pound ball was loaded into the Dahlgren gun and the two Brooke cannons were loaded with forged grapeshot the size of billiard balls.  The grapeshot were restored and preserved.

The CSS Pee Dee was 150 feet long and had a crew of 90 and carried three cannons.  These cannons weighed nearly 20 tons altogether and were mounted on carriages along the length of the hull so they could be swung either way.

The Pee Dee had been built at the Confederate Navy Yard at Mars Bluff on the Pee Dee River.  This is also where the ship was scuttled.  The guns had been thrown overboard before the Pee Dee was scuttled.  They were recovered from the river at the site.

The Brooke cannons were of Confederate manufacture and were rifled.  The Dahlgren cannon was a smoothbore and was at one time in the Union Navy, but probably seized from a northern ship.

--Old B-Runner

USS Atlanta-- Part 1: The CSS Atlanta Surrenders to Union Navy

In yesterday's post, I wrote about the former CSS Atlanta (and before that the blockade  runner Fingal) which had been captured by the monitors Weehawken and Nahant 17 June 1863.

From Wikipedia.

SERVICE IN THE U.S. NAVY

The  CSS Atlanta ran aground during the battle and was being hammered by the two monitors and forced to surrender.  It was easily freed by the Union ships and sailed to Port Royal under her own power.    She was not  heavily damaged and repaired and bought by the Union Navy.

Prize money of $350,000 was shared by the crews of the Weehawken, Nahant and gunboat Cimarron who were the only ships within signalling distance.

The ship retained her name and was commissioned as a U.S. warship on 2 February 1864.  Her former armament of four Brooke rifled cannons was removed and replaced with a pair of 8-inch 150-pdrs.  Parrott rifles in the bow and stern and two 6.4-inch 100-pdrs. Parrotts amidships.

All four of the Confederate Brooke Rifles are still on display at Willard Park at the Washington Navy Yard.

--Old B-Runner

Kinston's CSS Neuse Interpretive Center-- Part 4: Much On Display

There is also a 12-foot Brooke Rifle cannon replica built to scale.  These were the cannons on the Neuse.  It  has a functioning carriage, there is a barracks used by troops garrisoned in Kinston and a reconstruction of part of the ironclad's deck.

Display cases and wall plaques offer stories of the crew, including its captain, Joseph Price and 2nd Lt. Richard Bacot who wrote the earlier account of the ship's final minutes as a Confederate warship.

Photos recount the herculean efforts to free the hull from the Neuse River mud and the lengthy process requiring archaeologists, historians, volunteers and state assistance to accomplish it.

--Old B-R'er

Alexander M. DeBree, CSN-- Part 15: Treble-Banded Brooke Rifles

From Seacoast Artillery.

Three treble-banded Brooke guns produced at Tredegar Works in Richmond.  One, No. 1597, cast on June 13, 1862, installed on the CSS Richmond in November 1862.  Before that, it was successfully tested by its designer John M. Brooke and Lt. Alexander DeBree.

It appears that the other two were shipped to Charleston, South Carolina.  No. 1706, cast Dec. 6, 1962 was destined for the CSS Charleston but probably diverted by General Beauregard for harbor defense.

--Old B-R'er

6.4-Inch Brooke Rifles on CSS Atlanta

From To the Sound of Guns and other sources.

There are also two 6.4-inch Brooke Rifles from the CSS Atlanta at Willard Park in Washington Navy Yard.

#1610 was on the starboard side and #1587 was the port side gun.

Trunnion marks "J.R.A. & Co. //  T.F. and 1862"

J.R.A. stood for Joseph Reid Anderson, owner of T.F. (Tredegar Foundry).

--Old B-R'er

The Albemarle's 6.4-Inch Brooke Rifle

From the CS Navy.org site.

An existing 6.4-inch double-banded Brooke Rifle from the CSS Albemarle (the ship mounted two of them) was made at Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, Virginia.  It was serial number 1854-- Year 1863.

Its weight was 10,420 lbs and was inspected by ADB (Lt. Aleaxander M. DeBree, Asst. Inspector of Ordnance, Richmond ordnance Works.)

Nine 6.4-inch Brooke Rifles still survive.  Four are from the CSS Tennessee and one from the CSS Albemarle.

--Old B-R'er

"Seeing-Eye Dogs" Helping Navy Divers Recover the CSS Georgia-- Part 2

Divers found about sixty rounds for the Dahlgren guns (posing no threat as they have to have a flame to set off).  The Brooke rounds (shaped like bullets) found considerably more dangerous as they are impact sensitive.

There was no loss of life at the Georgia's sinking so, no ghosts.

Historians know that shortly after the war, a businessman contracted with the U.S. government to salvage the wreck as part of an effort to clear the shipping channel.  records indicate that there was a dispute and portions of the wreck may have been dumped back into the river.

Gordon Watts, a longtime diver and owner of Tidewater Atlantic Research is assisting in the recovery effort.  He has had experience in with the USS Monitor and CSS Alabama.

--Old B-Runner

Three Civil War Cannons Pulled from River

From the October 1, 2015, Discovery News by Elizabeth Palermo, Livescience.

It took about 30 minutes to raise each one and the cannons are in surprisingly good shape, "ready to rock and roll," said Jonathan Leader, South Carolina's state archaeologist.

Receding e\waters during a drought several years ago left the 7-inch Brooke rifle exposed and a bit corroded as a result.

--Old B-Runner

Archaeologists Recover Three Cannons From the Pee Dee River-- Part 4: The Cannons

The three cannons on the CSS Pee Dee were each on a pivot and had a full 360 degree of fire.  The ship itself was built for speed and maneuverability to act as a commerce raider and not to duke it out with a Union ship.

The Brooke cannons were for long range and the Dahlgren for short range.  The Dahlgren fired a speical ball with a water resistant cap.  The Brooke's had cannister shot.  Those were also removed.  The guns had been loaded when they were thrown overboard.  These were removed while the cannons were still underwater.

--Old B-R'er

Archaeologists Recover Three Cannons from the Pee Dee River-- Part 3: Great Grandson in Attendance

By 1994 the CSS Pee Dee Research and Recovery Team had seven families supporting it.

The first two were located by diver Bob Butler.  The third cannon was located by property owners Glenn Duffon and Rufus Duffon., who took advantage of low water level one day to venture into the river with a metal detector.

A man named Catesby Jones from Selma, Alabama, was on hand for the cannon retrieval.  The Brooke cannons were cast in Selma and his great grandfather, Catesby ap R Jones, had been in command of the naval foundry there when the Brooke cannons were cast.  More famously, Catesby ap R Jones had commanded the ironclad CSS Virginia ion its famous battle with the USS Monitor in 1862

The Brooke rifle serial numbers were #46 and #53.  The captured Dahlgren gun was serial number #513.  The Dahlgren was forged in Pennsylvania and captured from the USS Smithfield after it was sunk by the CSS Albemarle.

--Old B-Runner

Civil War Cannons Raised From the Pee Dee River-- Part 5: A "Jones"Connection

Unfortunately, the CSS Pee Dee had a very short-lived career.  On completion, it steamed upstream to fire on Sherman's troops crossing the river.  It may or may not have fired on enemy troops.  It then returned to Mars Bluff where it was burned and scuttled after the cannons and other items were thrown overboard.

The ship could also have been an ocean-going commerce raider.

To Catesby Jones, 90, of Selma, Alabama, and a World War II veteran, this was a very special day and he was in attendance when the cannons were brought to the surface.  His great-great grandfather was Catesby ap Jones, who was in command of the foundry and Navy yard in Selma, Alabama, when the two Brooke rifled cannons were made.

The cannons will now be taken to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, S.C. where they will be preserved.  The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is there also.  After completion, the cannons will go on display at the new U.S. department of veterans Affairs building in Florence.

--Old B-R'er

Three Cannons From the CSS Pee Dee to Be Retrieved-- Part 2

Researchers from the University of South Carolina's Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology have been off-and-on at the site of the former Confederate Mars Bluff Navy Yard since 2009.  The cannons were thrown off the Pee Dee at this site.  Mars Bluff Navy yard was one of about a dozen shipyards established inland, up rivers and far enough away from the Union ships along the coast for safety.

The cannons range from 9,000 to 15,000 pounds each and are between 9 and 12 feet long.  One is a smoothbore Dahlgren the Confederates captured from the USS Smithfield which was sunk in North Carolina by the CSS Albemarle.  The other two are both Brooke rifled cannons forged at Selma, Alabama.

The CSS Pee Dee was finished too late to see much action and its is not clear whether it ever fired a shot in anger.

This is bringing to an end a years-long archaeological effort, funded in part with a $200,000 grant from the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation in Florence.

--Old B-Runner

Preserving CSS Georgia Artifacts

From the August 23, 2015, Washington Times "Researchers, graduate students work to preserve artifacts" by Sam Peshek.

The Texas A&M University Conservation Lab has been working on preserving artifacts from French explorer Robert de La Salle's ship, the Belle which sank in Matagorda Bay in Texas in 1686 and was excavated in 1997.  Many of these artifacts are now on display at the Bullock Museum in Austin, Texas.

As this project is nearing completion, the lab now turns its attention to the artifacts from the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia as they are being sent from the ship's wreck in the Savannah River.

Four recovered cannons are there now and undergoing electrolysis in a two-year project to remove marine growth from them so they can be displayed.

Two of them are Brookes cannons, one weighing 6,000 pounds built at a Georgia foundry.  There is also a Union Dahlgren cannon and a six-pounder.

The lab is also working on the artifacts from the Civil War gunboat USS Westfield, a former New Jersey ferry, destroyed by its crew in 1963 at the Battle of Galveston to prevent capture.  These items were pulled up from the Houston Ship Channel in 2009.  That channel was also undergoing deepening and widening as is the situation of the CSS Georgia.

--Old B-R'er