Shipbucket

Hello everyone,

Today I bring to you an ironclad of the Confederate States Navy during the Civil War, the CSS Tennessee. The ship was one of many ironclads built by the CSA, and joined the rest in having the familiar "trapezoid" shape similar to the infamous CSS Virginia. She was laid down in 1862, then launched in 1863 but it was not until 1864 that she was actually commissioned in the CSA and taken up by Admiral Franklin Buchanan as flagship of the Mobile Squadron. She was unique from others in that:

"Her casemate design differed materially from CSS Columbia and CSS Texas, but iron plate was the same 2 by 10 in (50 by 250 mm) as used on CSS Huntsville and CSS Tuscaloosa but triple thickness instead of double; her iron plate was made by the Shelby Iron Company in Shelby, Alabama. A fearsome detail of her defensive armament was a "hot water attachment to her boilers for repelling boarders, throwing one water stream from forward of the casemate and one aft."

Tennessee would go on to serve in the CSN for only 7 months, from February 1864 to August of that year - most notably in the Battle of Mobile Bay where she engaged 4 ironclads and 14 steamers of the Union fleet. As she was the only Confederate ship left in the engagement, she became the target of all Union ships and was eventually forced to surrender after being severely battered.

After her capture, she was repaired and commissioned into the USN. She took part in the Siege of Fort Morgan, but then served in the Mississippi Squadron patrolling the river until the end of the war. She was eventually sold in 1867 for scrap.

I have drawn her in both layouts, as Admiral Farragut's flagship in 1864 and also as the USS Tennessee in 1865. This was my first ironclad, so I hope it looks alright!

_________________

Very nice!

_________________

MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB