February 6, 1865: About a New Ironclad at Wilmington, N.C.

FEBRUARY 6TH, 1865:  Secretary Mallory wrote General Braxton Bragg at Wilmington, North Carolina that Chief Naval Constructor John L. Porter had advised him that a new Confederate vessel could be completed within 90 days.

Machinery for the ship was available at Columbus, Georgia, but Mallory sought assurance that Wilmington would be held long enough for the machinery to be transported and the ship built so that it could get into action.

On the 8th, Bragg replied:  "This place will be held so long as our means enable us.  There is no indication of any movement against it, and our means of defense are improving."

However, Rear Admiral Porter and General Grant had other plans; Wilmington would be evacuated exactly two weeks later.

That ship Mallory was talking about was most likely the CSS Wilmington, which was destroyed on the stocks with the fall of Wilmington.

--Old B-Runner

A Walking Tour of Wilmington Features the Civil War Past-- Part 2

CASSIDEY SHIPYARD on Church Street by the Cape Fear River.  This is where the Confederate ironclad CSS Raleigh was constructed.  In April 1864 it scattered the Union blockading fleet off Fort fisher, but ran aground returning from the action and had to be destroyed.

The ironclad CSS Wilmington was under construction at the shipyard when the Union forces captured the city and was destroyed by Confederates while still on the stocks as they evacuated.

ROSE GREENHOW, famed Confederate spy, drowned off Fort Fisher when the blockade-runner she was on, the Condor, ran aground and her boat capsized while heading for the shore.  Her funeral was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church on Dock Street between Second and Third streets.  She is buried at Oakdale Cemetery.

--Old B-R'er

Whiting Requests Men, Guns and Ships at Wilmington

OCTOBER 6TH, 1864:  Concerned about the state of Wilmington's defenses, Major General Whiting wrote Secretary Mallory on 6 October:  "It is men and guns that are wanted as well as the ships, not only to man  the naval batteries now being substituted for the North Carolina and the Raleigh [beached on May 7, 1864], which were to defend the inner bars, but to guard or picket the entrance and river, a duty devolving upon the Navy, and for which there are neither forts nor vessels here."

An additional ironclad, the CSS Wilmington, was laid down but was never finished because of lack of armor and the end of the war.

--Old B-Runner

Some More on the CSS Wilmington

There was a great thread in the Civil War Talk Naval Page about this ship under "Aye Candy: CSS Wilmington."  This is where I got the picture of how it probably would have looked had it been launched.  As it was, it was fairly close to completion when the city fell in February 1865.

It was built to replace the two essentially failed ironclads at the port: The CSS North Carolina and CSS Raleigh.

Of interest was that it was not built to be fitted with a ram and would rely entirely on firepower to do its damage, like the Union monitors.  And, with its construction, it more closely resembled a monitor than previous casemated Confederate ironclads like the CSS Virginia.  However, it did not have a revolving turret, but used pivot guns instead.

The ship was not to have much freeboard  above the water and had a very low profile, even lower than the Union monitors.  Evidently, Confederate engineers were learning from the monitors.

The twin casemates were very low and had extremely steep sides, better for shell deflection.  Plus, these ships used less iron which made them lighter for use in rivers, plus easier to propel.

I Sure Would Have Liked to have Seen This Ship in Action.  --Old B-Runner

CSS Wilmington: Not Your Standard Confederate Ironclad-- Part 2

Construction on the CSS Wilmington began almost immediately.  Most of the timber came from South Carolina and iron plating was salvaged from the CSS Raleigh and North Carolina.  Work progressed quickly, but the ship was still unfinished when Fort Fisher fell January 15, 1865.

The ship was destroyed by fire on the stocks the day before Union forces occupied Wilmington on February 22, 1865.

From the Cape Fear Historical Institute.

The CSS Wilmington was 226 feet long and built by Beery's Shipyard.  When burned, it was 95% complete and its machinery made at Columbus Naval Works in Georgia. 

It was to be different from the usual Confederate ironclads in that instead of a large casemate to house the guns, it was to have two small casemates and would resemble more the Union double turret monitors.

I have come across pictures of what it was to look like and will put it on this blog next week.  I can't put a picture up on this laptop.

An Ironclad of a Different Sort.  --Old B-Runner

The CSS Wilmington: Not Your Standard Confederate Ironclad-- Part 1

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

I knew about this ironclad, but not much beyond the fact that it was destroyed while incomplete when the Federals captured its namesake city in February 1865.  I came across the name of the ship in the NC Encyclopedia, looked it up in Yahoo! and came across a discussion about it ion the Civil War Talk site under Naval War.  This was quite a different-looking Confederate ironclad than what you normally expect to see.

The CSS Wilmington was the last of three Confederate ironclads constructed at Wilmington during the war.  The first two were begun in the spring of 1862 and proved unsatisfactory.  The CSS Raleigh ran aground in the Cape Fear River in May 1864 and was a total loss.  The CSS North Carolina leaked badly anf became a floating battery, sinking at her moorings in September 1864.

In late May 1864, Confederate Sceretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory sent naval shipbuilder John L.Porter to Wilmington to build a new ironclad.  That was the CSS Wilmington.

New Boat, New Name.  --Old B-Runner