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The primary Union strategy during the American Civil War was a massive naval blockade of the entire Southern coastline of the Confederacy, and it was in the effort to counter this blockade that the Confederates developed their first submarines and torpedo boats. This book traces the development of these new technologies, including the CSS 'Little David' and 'Hunley' - respectively the first torpedo boat and submarine to sink an enemy warship. The wreck of the 'Hunley' was raised in 2000, and this is the first book ever to integrate details of its recovery with an account of Confederate submarines in action.
At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River and in the first few months both sides scrambled to gather a flotilla, converting existing riverboats for naval use. These ships were transformed into powerful naval weapons despite a lack of resources, trained manpower and suitable vessels. The creation of a river fleet was a miracle of ingenuity, improvisation and logistics, particularly for the South. This title describes their design, development and operation throughout the American Civil War.
This is the first book-length study devoted to the vessels of the Confederate Navy, including all types used during the conflict: ironclads (both domestic and foreign-built), commerce raiders, blockade runners, riverine and ocean-going gunboats, torpedo and submersible vessels, and floating batteries. The book emphasizes the development, construction, and design of these vessels using, where available, original plans, photographs, and contemporary descriptions. The author describes these vessels in context with wartime conditions as well as with the transitional naval technology of the era. Over 100 vessels are detailed, including more than 30 ironclads, both American and foreign built. Over 150 illustrations are included, many of which have not previously been published. Also included is a section on steam engine technology of the era.
The Confederate states adopted radical solutions to counter the naval superiority of their opponents. One of the more successful solutions they adopted was the use of commerce raiders. This book describes the reasons which forced the Confederates to resort to commerce raiding, and outlines the way in which these craft were converted or specially built to perform their role. It details not only the way these craft were operated and manned, but also their brutal attacks, daring escapes and climatic battles against the large numbers of Union warships forced to hunt them down.
Many people have heard of the Hunley, the experimental Confederate submarine that sank the USS Housatonic in a daring nighttime operation. Less well known, however, is that the Hunley was not alone under the waters of America during the Civil War. Both the Union and Confederacy built a wide and incredible array of vessels that could maneuver underwater, and many were put to use patrolling enemy waters. In Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, Mark Ragan, who spent years mining factory records and log books, brings this little-known history to the surface.The hardcover edition, Union and Confederate Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, was published to wide acclaim in 1999. For this new paperback edition, Ragan has revised and updated the text to include the full story of the Hunley's recovery and restoration.
Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because they represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war's naval campaigns and their military leaders. McPherson recounts how the Union navy's blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war's early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports. Meanwhile, the Confederate navy, dwarfed by its giant adversary, demonstrated daring and military innovation. Commerce raiders sank Union ships and drove the American merchant marine from the high seas. Southern ironclads sent several Union warships to the bottom, naval mines sank many more, and the Confederates deployed the world's first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. But in the end, it was the Union navy that won some of the war's most important strategic victories--as an essential partner to the army on the ground at Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Mobile Bay, and Fort Fisher, and all by itself at Port Royal, Fort Henry, New Orleans, and Memphis.
Following the loss of the CSS Arkansas in early August 1862, Union and Confederate eyes turned to the Yazoo River, which formed the developing northern flank for the South's fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi. For much of the next year, Federal efforts to capture the citadel focused on possession of that stream. Huge battles and mighty expeditions were launched (Chickasaw Bayou, Yazoo Pass, Steele's Bayou) from that direction, but the city, guarded by stout defenses, swamps, and motivated defenders, could not be turned. Finally, Union troops ran down the Mississippi and came up from the south and the river defenses and the bastion itself were taken from the east. From July 1863 to August 1864, sporadic Confederate resistance necessitated continued Federal attention. This book recounts the whole story.