CSS Charleston
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=CSS Charleston.jpg |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Confederate States |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Confederate States of America|naval}} |Ship name=Charleston |Ship namesake=Charleston, South Carolina |Ship ordered=Fall 1862 |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=James M. Eason, Charleston |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down=December 1862 |Ship launched=1863 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship commissioned=September 1863 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname=Ladies' Gunboat |Ship fate=Destroyed to avoid capture, 17/18 February 1865 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Casemate ironclad |Ship displacement={{convert|600|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} |Ship tons burthen= |Ship length={{Convert|189|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{Convert|34|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship depth of hold={{Convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship draft={{Convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=1 shaft, 1 steam engine |Ship speed={{convert|6|kn|lk=in|abbr=on}} |Ship complement=150 officers and men |Ship armor={{convert|4|in|0|abbr=on}} |Ship armament=*2 × {{convert|9|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} smoothbore Dahlgren guns
|Ship notes= }} |
CSS Charleston was a casemate ironclad ram built for the Confederate Navy (CSN) at Charleston, South Carolina during the American Civil War. Funded by the State of South Carolina as well as donations by patriotic women's associations in the city, she was turned over to the Confederate Navy and defended the city until advancing Union troops that threatened Charleston caused her to be destroyed in early 1865 lest she be captured. Her wreck was salvaged after the war and the remains have been obliterated by subsequent dredging.
Construction and description
James M. Eason was awarded a contract by the State of South Carolina to build a larger ironclad at Charleston in November 1862 after he finished the casemate ram {{ship|CSS|Chicora}}. Funds were also contributed by the city's "Ladies' Gun-boat Association",Scharf, pp. 671–72 which led to Charleston{{'}}s nickname of the "Ladies' Gunboat". He began construction the next month and completed the ship in September 1863.
Charleston was {{convert|189|ft|m|1}} long overall and had a beam of {{convert|34|ft|m}}. Her depth of hold was {{convert|14|ft|m|1}} and she had a draft {{Convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}}. The ship had a displacement of {{convert|600|LT|t|0}}. Charleston{{'}}s propulsion system is unknown,Gaines, p. 143 but her engine had a diameter of {{convert|36|in}} and her propeller was {{convert|8|ft|6|in|m|1}} in diameter. At any rate, she was credited with a speed of {{convert|6|kn|lk=in}}. The ship was armed with two {{convert|9|in|mm|adj=on|0}} smoothbore gunsSilverstone, p. 153 at the ends of the ship,Luraghi, p. 278 probably Dahlgren guns,Olmstead, Turk & Tucker, pp. 243–44 and four muzzle-loading Brooke rifles on the broadside that fired {{convert|90|-|110|lb|adj=on}} projectiles,Scharf, p. 671 which would make them {{convert|7|in|adj=on|0}} gunsOlmstead, Turk & Tucker, p. 126 although their exact type is unknown.Still, pp. 82–83 Charleston was also fitted with a wrought-iron ram. The ship's armor was {{convert|4|in|0}} thick. All together, her ram and armor weighed {{convert|600|LT|t|0}}. Her crew numbered 150 officers and enlisted men.
Service
Once completed, Charleston served as the flagship of the CSN's Charleston Squadron together with the rams {{ship|CSS|Palmetto State||2}} and Chicora. Her only captain was Commander Isaac N. Brown. The ship was set on fire and blown up with {{convert|10|LT|t|0}} of gunpowder in the Cooper River on the night of 17/18 February 1865 to prevent her capture by the Union Army once the city was evacuated by the Confederates.Luraghi, pp. 289, 336–37, Gaines, p. 143 The wreck was salvaged to a depth of {{convert|12|ft|m|1}} below low water by Benjamin Maillefort in 1872–73 and the site has been thoroughly dredged to deepen the channel, destroying any remains.Gaines, p. 144 Its last known location was at {{coord|32|47|29|N|79|55|21|W|type:event|display=inline,title}}{{cite web|title=Siege of Charleston|url=http://www.numa.net/expeditions/siege-of-charleston/|publisher=National Underwater and Marine Agency|accessdate=12 December 2013}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last1=Bisbee |first1=Saxon T. |title=Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War |publisher=University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama |isbn=978-0-81731-986-1|date=2018}}
- {{cite book |last1=Canney |first1=Donald L. |title=The Confederate Steam Navy 1861-1865 |date=2015 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing|location=Atglen, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-7643-4824-2}}
- {{cite book|last=Gaines|first=W. Craig|title=Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks |year=2008 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press|location=Baton Rouge, Louisiana|isbn=978-0-8071-3274-6}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Koehler |first1=R. B.|last2=Sileo|first2=Thomas |title=Question 40/43: Fates of Confederate Ironclads |journal=Warship International |date=2008 |volume=XLV |issue=4 |pages=276–277 |issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book|last=Luraghi|first=Raimondo|title=A History of the Confederate Navy|year=1996 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-527-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofconfede0000lura}}
- {{cite book|last1=Olmstead|first1=Edwin|last2=Stark|first2=Wayne E.|last3=Tucker|first3=Spencer C.|year=1997|title=The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon|publisher=Museum Restoration Service|location=Alexandria Bay, New York|isbn=0-88855-012-X|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book|last=Scharf|first=J. Thomas|authorlink=John Thomas Scharf|title=History of the Confederate States Navy: From its Organization to the Surrender of its Last Vessel|year=1977 |publisher=Fairfax Press|location=New York|isbn=0-517-23913-2|oclc=4361326}}
- {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Civil War Navies 1855–1883 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York|year=2006|series=The U.S. Navy Warship Series|isbn=0-415-97870-X}}
- {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984 |publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}
- {{cite book|last=Still|first=William N. Jr.|title=Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads|isbn=0-87249-454-3|orig-year=1971|year=1985|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|location=Columbia, South Carolina}}
{{CSN ironclads}}
{{1865 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charleston}}
Category:Ironclad warships of the Confederate States Navy
Category:Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast
Category:Shipwrecks of the American Civil War
Category:Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina