Atlanta was a casemate ironclad that served in the Confederate and Union Navies during the American Civil War. She was converted from a British-built blockade runner named Fingal by the Confederacy after she made one run to Savannah, Georgia. After several failed attempts to attack Union blockaders, the ship was captured by two Union monitors in 1863 when she ran aground. Atlanta was floated off, repaired, and rearmed, serving in the Union Navy for the rest of the war. She spent most of her time deployed on the James River supporting Union forces there. The ship was decommissioned in 1865 and placed in reserve. Several years after the end of the war, Atlanta was sold to Haiti, but was lost at sea in December 1869 on her delivery voyage.
Fingal was designed and built as a merchantman by J&G Thomson's Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard at Govan in Glasgow, Scotland, and was completed early in 1861.[1][2] She was described by Midshipman Dabney Scales, who served on the Atlanta before her battle with the monitors, as being a two-masted, iron-hulled ship 189 feet (57.6m) long with a beam of 25 feet (7.6m). She had a draft of 12 feet (3.7m) and a depth of hold of 15 feet (4.6m). He estimated her tonnage at around 700 tons bm. Fingal was equipped with two vertical single-cylinder direct-acting steam engines using steam generated by one flue-tubular boiler. The engines drove the ship at a top speed of around 13 knots (24km/h; 15mph). They had a bore of 39 inches (991mm) and a stroke of 30 inches (762mm).[3]
The ship briefly operated between Glasgow and other ports in Scotland for Hutcheson's West Highland Service[1] before she was purchased in September 1861 by James D. Bulloch, the primary foreign agent in Great Britain for the Confederacy, and Major Edward Clifford Anderson Confederate Secretary of War in England, to deliver the military and naval ordnance and supplies that they purchased. To disguise his control of Fingal, and the destination of her cargo, Bulloch hired an English crew and captain and put out his destination as Bermuda and Nassau in the Bahamas. The cargo was loaded in Greenock in early October, although Bulloch and the other passengers would not attempt to board until they rendezvoused with the ship at Holyhead, Wales. On the night 14/15 October, as she was slowly rounding the breakwater at Holyhead, Fingal rammed and sank the Austrian brigSiccardi, slowly swinging at anchor without lights. Bulloch and the passengers embarked in the steamer while Bulloch dispatched a letter to his financial agents instructing them to settle damages with the brig's owners because he could not afford to take the time to deal with the affair lest he and Fingal be detained.[4] The ship reached Bermuda on 2 November and, after leaving port on 7 November, Bulloch informed the crew that the steamer's real destination was Savannah, Georgia; he offered to take anyone who objected to the plan to Nassau. However, all of the crew agreed to join in the effort to run the Union blockade. Fingal was able to slip safely into the Savannah estuary in a heavy fog on the night of 12 November without sighting any blockaders.[5]
While Fingal was discharging her cargo, Bulloch and Anderson went to Richmond to confer with Stephen Mallory, Secretary of the Navy. Mallory endorsed Bulloch's plan to load Fingal with cotton to sell on the Navy Department's account to be used to purchase more ships and equipment in Europe.[6] He returned to Savannah on 23 November and it took him almost a month to purchase a cargo and acquire enough coal. He made one attempt to break through the blockade on 23 December, but it proved impossible to do as the Union controlled every channel from Savannah, aided by their occupation of Tybee Island at the mouth of the Savannah River. Bulloch reported to Mallory in late January 1862 that breaking out was hopeless so Mallory ordered him to turn the ship over to another officer and to return to Europe some other way.[7]
As Atlanta
Cross-section of Atlanta
The brothers Asa and Nelson Tift received the contract to convert the blockade runner into an ironclad in early 1862 with the name of Atlanta, after the city in Georgia. This was largely financed by contributions from the women of Savannah.[1]Fingal was cut down to her main deck and large wooden sponsons were built out from the sides of her hull to support her casemate.[8] After the conversion, Atlanta was 204 feet (62.2m)long overall and had a beam of 41 feet (12m).[9] Her depth of hold was now 17 feet (5.2m)[8] and she now had a draft of 15feet 9inches (4.8m). Atlanta now displaced1,006 long tons (1,022t)[9] and her speed was estimated at 7–10 knots (13–19km/h; 8.1–11.5mph).[10]
The armor of the casemate was angled at 30° from the horizontal and made from two layers of railroad rails, rolled into plates 2 inches (51mm) thick and 7 inches (180mm) wide. The outer layer ran vertically and the inner layer horizontally. Her armor was backed by 3 inches (76mm) of oak, vertically oriented, and two layers of 7.5 inches (191mm) of pine, alternating in direction. The bottom of the casemate was some 20 inches (508mm) from the waterline and its top was 8feet 6inches (2.59m) above the waterline. The pyramidal pilothouse was armored in the same way and had room for two men. The upper portion of Atlanta's hull received 2 inches (51mm) of armor.[11]
The rectangular casemate was pierced with eight narrow gun ports, one each at the bow and stern and three along each side. Each gun port was protected by an armored shutter made of two layers of iron riveted together and allowed the guns to elevate only to a maximum of +5 to +7°. Atlanta was armed with single-banded, 7-inch (178mm)Brooke rifles on pivot mounts at the bow and stern.[12] The middle gun port on each side was occupied by a single-banded, 6.4-inch (163mm) Brooke rifle. The 17-caliber, seven-inch guns weighed about 15,000 pounds (6,800kg) and fired 80-pound (36kg)armor-piercing "bolts" and 110-pound (50kg) explosive shells. The equivalent statistics for the 18.5-caliber, 6.4-inch gun were 9,110 pounds (4,130kg) with 80-pound bolts and 64-pound (29kg) shells.[13]Atlanta was also armed with a 20-foot (6.1m), solid iron, ram that was reinforced by a series of vertical steel bars. In front of the ram was a spar torpedo that carried 50 pounds (23kg) of black powder on a wooden pole connected to an iron lever that could be raised or lowered by means of pulleys.[14]
On 31 July 1862, under the command of Lieutenant Charles H. McBlair, Atlanta conducted her sea trials down the Savannah River toward Fort Pulaski.[15] The ship proved to be difficult to steer, and the additional weight of her armor and guns significantly reduced her speed and increased her draft. This latter was a real problem in the shallow waters near Savannah. She also leaked significantly, and her design virtually eliminated air circulation.[1] One report said that "it was almost intolerable on board the Atlanta, there being no method of ventilation, and the heat was intense."[8] Scales commented in his diary, "What a comfortless, infernal and God-forsaken ship!!"[8]
Attempts were made to fix the problems and were at least partially successful in stopping many of the leaks.[16] The ship was commissioned on 22 November[9] and became the flagship of Flag OfficerJosiah Tattnall III, commander of the naval defenses of Georgia.[1] Under pressure from Mallory to engage the blockading ships, Tattnall attempted to engage them before any ironclads arrived on 5 January 1863, but army engineers could not clear the obstacles blocking the channel in a timely manner, despite early coordination being made by Tattnall to do so. It took another month to actually clear the obstacles and two monitors arrived before the end of January. Nonetheless Tattnall attempted to pass through the obstructions during high tide on 3 February, but high winds prevented the water from rising enough to allow the ship to do so. After Atlanta successfully passed through them on 19 March, Tattnall planned to attack the Union base at Port Royal, South Carolina while the monitors were attacking Charleston. Deserters revealed Tatnall's plan while he was waiting at the head of Wassaw Sound and he was forced to retreat when three monitors augmented the defenses at Port Royal. Dissatisfied with Tattnall's perceived lack of aggressiveness, Mallory replaced Tattnall as commander of the Savannah squadron later that month with CommanderRichard L. Page. Page, in his turn was relieved in May by Commander William A. Webb; Atlanta remained the squadron flagship throughout this time.[17]
Webb demonstrated his aggressiveness when he attempted to sortie on the first spring tide (30 May) after taking command, but Atlanta's forward engine broke down after he had passed the obstructions, and the ship ran aground. She was not damaged although it took over a day to pull her free. He planned to make another attempt on the next full tide, rejecting Mallory's idea that he wait until the nearly complete ironclad Savannah was finished before his next sortie. In the meantime, Rear AdmiralSamuel F. Du Pont, commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, had ordered the monitors Weehawken and Nahant into Wassaw Sound. Commander John Rodgers in Weehawken had overall command of the two ships.[18]
A drawing of USS Weehawken capturing Atlanta, 17 June 1863
9 crewmen of the CSS Atlanta after their capture
6 crewmen of the CSS Atlanta after their capture
In the early evening of 15 June, Webb began his next attempt by passing over the lower obstructions in the Wilmington River and spent the rest of the night coaling. He moved forward the next evening to a concealed position within easy reach of the monitors for an attack early the following morning.[1] Webb planned to sink one of the monitors with his spar torpedo and then deal with the other one with his guns.[19] The gunboatIsondiga and the tugboatResolute[1] were to accompany him to tow one or both of the monitors back to Savannah.[20]
A lookout aboard Weehawken spotted Atlanta at 04:10 on the morning of 17 June. When the latter ship closed to within about 1.5 miles (2.4km) of the two Union ships, she fired one round from her bow gun that passed over Weehawken and landed near Nahant. Shortly afterward, Atlanta ran aground on a sandbar; she was briefly able to free herself, but the pressure of the tide pushed her back onto the sandbar. This time Webb was unable to get off and the monitors closed the range. When Weehawken, the leading ship, closed to within 200–300 yards (180–270m) she opened fire with both of her guns. The 11-inch (279mm) shell missed, but the 15-inch (381mm) shell struck the ironclad above the port middle gun port, penetrated her armor and broke the wooden backing behind it, spraying splinters and fragments that disabled the entire gun crew and half the crew of the bow gun, even though it failed to cleanly penetrate through the backing. The next shot from the 11-inch Dahlgren gun struck the upper hull and started a small leak even though it failed to penetrate the two-inch armor there. The next shell from the 15-inch Dahlgren glanced off the middle starboard gun shutter as it was being opened, wounding half the gun's crew with fragments. The final shell was also from the 15-inch Dahlgren and it struck the top of the pilothouse, breaking the armor there and wounding both pilots in it. By this time, Atlanta had been able to fire only seven shots, none of which hit either Union ship, and was hard aground with high tide not due for another hour and a half. Weehawken and Nahant were able to freely maneuver into positions from which the Atlanta's narrow gun ports would not allow her to reply and the damage already inflicted by the former ship made further resistance futile. Webb surrendered his ship within 15 minutes of opening fire, before Nahant even had a chance to fire. Of the ironclad's 21 officers and 124 enlisted men, one man was killed and another sixteen were wounded badly enough to require hospitalization.[21]
In the Union Navy
USS Atlanta on the James River; photo probably by Mathew Brady
Atlanta was easily pulled free by the Union ships and she reached Port Royal under her own power. Not badly damaged, she was repaired and bought by the Union Navy. The prize money of $350,000 was shared between the crews of Weehawken, Nahant and the gunboat Cimarron, the only ships within signaling distance. The ship retained her name and was commissioned again on 2 February 1864, rearmed with a pair of 8-inch (203mm), 150-pound Parrott rifles in the bow and stern and 6.4-inch, 100-pound Parrott rifles amidships.[22] The 150-pound Parrott rifle weighed 16,500 pounds (7,500kg) and was 17 calibers long. The 100-pounder weighed 9,800 pounds (4,400kg) and was 20 calibers long. It fired a 100-pound (45kg) shell a distance of 6,900 yards (6,300m) at an elevation of +25°. All four of her Brooke rifles are currently located in Willard Park in the Washington Navy Yard.[23]Atlanta was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and spent most of her time stationed up the James River where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against a sortie by the ironclads of the James River Squadron. On 21 May 1864, she and the gunboat Dawn fired on and dispersed Confederate cavalry that was attacking Fort Powhatan[1] and she was deployed further upriver in February 1865 after the Battle of Trent's Reach to better blockade the Confederate ironclads at Richmond.[24]
After the end of the war in April, Atlanta was decommissioned in Philadelphia on 21 June 1865 and placed in reserve at League Island. She was sold to Sam Ward on 4 May 1869 for the price of $25,000 and subsequently delivered to representatives of Haiti on 8 December by Sydney Oaksmith, a lawyer who had received an advance of $50,000 on her purchase price of $260,000. The ship was briefly seized by the Customs Service, possibly for violations of neutrality laws as she had just loaded four large guns and a number of recruits for the forces of Sylvain Salnave, President of Haiti, who was embroiled in a civil war. Atlanta was released and sailed for Port-au-Prince three days later. She broke down in Delaware Bay and had to put in at Chester, Pennsylvania for repairs. The ship, now renamed either Triumph or Triumfo, departed on 18 December 1869 and vanished en route, apparently sinking with the loss of all hands, either off Cape Hatteras or the Delaware Capes.[25][26]
CSS Virginia was the first steam-powered ironclad warship built by the Confederate States Navy during the first year of the American Civil War; she was constructed as a casemate ironclad using the razéed original lower hull and engines of the scuttled steam frigate USS Merrimack. Virginia was one of the participants in the Battle of Hampton Roads, opposing the Union's USS Monitor in March 1862. The battle is chiefly significant in naval history as the first battle between ironclads.
USS Keokuk was an experimental ironclad screw steamer of the United States Navy named for the city of Keokuk, Iowa. She was laid down in New York City by designer Charles W. Whitney at J.S. Underhill Shipbuilders, at the head of 11th Street. She was originally named Moodna, but was renamed while under construction, launched in December 1862 sponsored by Mrs. C. W. Whitney, wife of the builder, and commissioned in early March 1863 with Commander Alexander C. Rhind in command.
The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War.
USS Galena was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and supported Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry's Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating. Widely regarded as a failure, Galena was reconstructed without most of her armor in 1863 and transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864. The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and the subsequent Siege of Fort Morgan in August. She was briefly transferred to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in September before she was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for repairs in November.
USS Onondaga was an ironclad monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Commissioned in 1864, the ship spent her entire active career with the James River Flotilla covering the water approaches to the Confederate States capital of Richmond, Virginia, although her only notable engagement was the Battle of Trent's Reach. After the war, she was purchased by France where she served as a coastal defense ship in the French Navy.
USS Canonicus was a single-turret monitor built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War, the lead ship of her class. The ship spent most of her first year in service stationed up the James River, where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against a sortie by the Confederate ironclads of the James River Squadron. She engaged Confederate artillery batteries during the year and later participated in both attacks on Fort Fisher, defending the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina, from December 1864 to January 1865.
The first USS Weehawken was a Passaic-class ironclad monitor in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named after Weehawken, New Jersey.
USS New Ironsides was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship spent most of her career blockading the Confederate ports of Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1863–65. New Ironsides bombarded the fortifications defending Charleston in 1863 during the First and Second Battles of Charleston Harbor. At the end of 1864 and the beginning of 1865 she bombarded the defenses of Wilmington in the First and Second Battles of Fort Fisher.
William Augustin Webb was an American sailor and Mexican–American War veteran who resigned his United States Navy commission after more than 20 years of service to join the Confederate States Navy in the American Civil War. Webb was decorated for his service as Captain of the CSS Teaser, part of the James River Squadron, during the Battle of Hampton Roads (1862).
CSSIsondiga was a wooden gunboat that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Designed according to Matthew Fontaine Maury's plan to produce a large number of small vessels to swamp the Union blockade, Isondiga was one of only two or three of these Maury gunboats actually completed, and the only one completed as designed. The Maury gunboats project had been almost entirely cancelled in favor of ironclad production after the Battle of Hampton Roads. Isondiga was built in Savannah, Georgia, and was transferred to the Confederate Navy in January 1863 to begin the fitting out process. At this time, she was commanded by Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard.
The first USS Nahant was a Passaic-class ironclad monitor of the United States Navy that saw service in the American Civil War and the Spanish–American War.
The siege of Fort Pulaski concluded with the Battle of Fort Pulaski fought April 10–11, 1862, during the American Civil War. Union forces on Tybee Island and naval operations conducted a 112-day siege, then captured the Confederate-held Fort Pulaski after a 30-hour bombardment. The siege and battle are important for innovative use of rifled guns which made existing coastal defenses obsolete. The Union initiated large-scale amphibious operations under fire.
USS Saugus was a single-turreted Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The vessel was assigned to the James River Flotilla of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon completion in April 1864. The ship spent most of her time stationed up the James River where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against a sortie by the Confederate ironclads of the James River Squadron. She engaged Confederate artillery batteries during the year and later participated in both attacks on Fort Fisher, defending the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina, in December 1864 – January 1865. Saugus returned to the James River after the capture of Fort Fisher and remained there until Richmond, Virginia, was occupied in early April.
USS Roanoke was a wooden-hulled Merrimack-class screw frigate built for the United States Navy in the mid-1850s. She served as flagship of the Home Squadron in the late 1850s and captured several Confederate ships after the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The ship was converted into an ironclad monitor during 1862–63; the first ship with more than two gun turrets in history. Her conversion was not very successful as she rolled excessively and the weight of her armor and turrets strained her hull. Her deep draft meant that she could not operate off shallow Confederate ports and she was relegated to harbor defense at Hampton Roads, Virginia for the duration of the war. Roanoke was placed in reserve after the war and sold for scrap in 1883.
USS Manhattan was a single-turreted Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. After commissioning in 1864 the ship was assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay. At the end of the battle, Manhattan took the surrender of the Confederate casemate ironclad ram Tennessee. She bombarded Fort Morgan during the Siege of Fort Morgan and later blockaded the mouth of the Red River until the end of the war.
USS Mahopac(1864) was a Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The vessel was assigned to the James River Flotilla of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon completion in September 1864. The ship spent most of her time stationed up the James River where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against sorties by the Confederate ironclads of the James River Squadron. She engaged Confederate artillery batteries during the year and later participated in both the first and second battles of Fort Fisher, defending the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina, in December 1864 – January 1865. Mahopac returned to the James River after the capture of Fort Fisher and remained there until Richmond, Virginia was occupied in early April.
The First Battle of Charleston Harbor was an engagement near Charleston, South Carolina that took place April 7, 1863, during the American Civil War. The striking force was a fleet of nine ironclad warships of the Union Navy, including seven monitors that were improved versions of the original USS Monitor. A Union Army contingent associated with the attack took no active part in the battle. The ships, under command of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, attacked the Confederate defenses near the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Navy Department officials in Washington hoped for a stunning success that would validate a new form of warfare, with armored warships mounting heavy guns reducing traditional forts.
The Battle of Wassaw Sound was an American Civil War naval battle between the Confederate ram CSS Atlanta and the Passaic-class ironclad monitors USS Weehawken and USS Nahant and the gunboat USS Cimmerone, which took place on 17 June 1863 in Wassaw Sound, a bay in the present day state of Georgia. Atlanta ran aground while attempting to break the Union blockade, and after a short battle surrendered to the Union forces. Captain Rodgers became a national hero, and he was promoted to commodore and received the Thanks of Congress as a result of his decisive victory.
CSS Missouri was a casemate ironclad built by the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Her propulsion machinery was taken from an existing steamboat, her armor was railroad T-rails, and she was armed with three captured cannon. She was difficult to steer and leaked badly. Additional equipment had to be added to bring allow her to reach her intended speed. Completed during 1863 on the Red River, she was trapped in the Shreveport, Louisiana, area by low water and never saw combat. The vessel's crew had desertion issues and some of her crewmen were pulled from the army. After traveling downriver for the first time, the ship was surrendered in June 1865 to the United States Navy—the last Confederate ironclad to be handed over—and sold in November.
The Milwaukee-class monitors were a class of four riverine ironclad monitors built during the American Civil War. Several supported Union forces along the Mississippi River in mid-1864 before participating in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August. Chickasaw and Winnebago bombarded Confederate coastal fortifications during the battle and during subsequent operations as well as engaging the ironclad Tennessee II. The other two ships arrived at Mobile Bay after the battle and all four supported the land attacks on Mobile in March–April 1865. Milwaukee struck a torpedo during this time and sank. The surviving three ships were sold in 1874; Chickasaw was converted into a ferry and survived until 1944 when she was scuttled. Her wreck was discovered in 2004.
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Scheina, Robert L. (1987). Latin America, A Naval History: 1810–1987. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-295-8.
Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-783-6.
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