CSS
ARKANSAS
Originally laid down at Memphis, along with a sister ship, the Tennessee (no to be confused with the Tennessee II that fought at Mobile Bay).She was moved to Yazoo City on the Yazoo river when the Union fleet was nearing Memphis. The Tennessee was not complete enough to move and was burnt to avoid capture.When the Confederate Navy heard how slowly work was progressing, they put Isaac N Brown in charge of her completion.
Brown completed her remarkably rapidly and intended to use her in hit and run attacks on Union river traffic.
The navy department and the Confederate government were concerned about Vicksburg , then being besieged by the Union fleet. They ordered Brown to sail down river and attack the Union fleet in an attempt to raise the siege.
This he reluctantly did, passing through the entire union fleet and anchoring under the guns of Vicksburg.
After an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Arkansas at her moorings, the Union fleet retired down river. Single-handedly, she had raised the siege!
Whilst Brown was away ill, she was ordered to sail to Baton Rouge to assist the Confederate troops there. Her engines, always unreliable, failed and she ran aground. with the USS Essex fast approaching, her crew set her alight and fled.
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| Type | Ironclad Ram | Draught | 10' 6" |
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| Length | 180' | Speed | 7 knots |
| Beam | 30' | Crew | 70 - 90 |
| Armour | 3" railroad iron over wood and compressed cotton on casemate | ||
| Armament | Ram Bows 2 x 8" Columbiads in bow ports 2 x 6.4" Rifles in stern ports 2 x 6.4" Rifles, 2x8" Dahlgren Smoothbores and 2 x 32 lb Smoothbores in broadside ports |
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| Vessel Name | Configuration | Draught | Size | HDP | Targeting | Max Speed | Manoeuvre | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSS Arkansas | Casemate | Medium | Small | 29 | B/E | Fast | Good | ||||||
| Armour | |||||||||||||
| Casemate | Hull | Deck | P/H | Turret | Stack | Rudder | Wheels | ||||||
| B | B/S | S | B | B/S | S | Armour | SDP | Armour | WDP | ||||
| H | H | L | U | U | U | U | H | - | U | 10 | U | - | - |
| Ram ? | Guns | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 2xFGF-MSB, FPGF-HC, FSGF-HC, MPGF-MSB,
MSGF-MSB, APGF-MSB, ASGF-MSB, 2xAGF-LSB |
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| Flotation Points | Date in Service | Model Supplied By | |||||||||||
| 7 | 26th June 1862 | Thoroughbred (1/600th), Peter Pig (1/600th) Langton (1/1200th) | |||||||||||
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If you have any questions please contact me at
sotw@canis-publ.demon.co.uk.