CSS Columbia
CSS Columbia was an ironclad steamer ram in the Confederate States Navy and later in the United States Navy.
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | Columbia |
| Laid down: | 1864 |
| Launched: | March 1864 |
| Commissioned: | 1864 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 June 1865 |
| Fate: | Captured by Union forces 18 February 1865; sold 10 October 1867 |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 216 ft (66 m) |
| Beam: | 51 ft 4 in (15.65 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Armament: | 6 guns |
As CSS Columbia
Columbia was built at Charleston, South Carolina in 1864 to a design by John L. Porter. She was launched in March 1864 and entered service later in that year. When the Union forces took possession of Charleston on 18 February 1865, they found Columbia near Fort Moultrie; she had run on a sunken wreck and been damaged on 12 January 1865. The ship already had her guns and some armor plating removed and ship-worms were already at work.
As USS Columbia
She was raised on 26 April and was towed by USS Vanderbilt to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she arrived 25 May 1865. Columbia was drydocked on 5 June and repairs were begun, but on 15 June, she was decommissioned and placed in ordinary. Her hulk was sold 10 October 1867.
References
- Bisbee, Saxon T. (2018). Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-81731-986-1.
- Canney, Donald L. (1993). The Old Steam Navy: The Ironclads, 1842–1885. 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-586-8.
- Koehler, R. B. & Sileo, Thomas (2008). "Question 40/43: Fates of Confederate Ironclads". Warship International. XLV (4): 276–277. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). Civil War Navies 1855–1883. The U.S. Navy Warship Series. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97870-X.
- Still, William N. Jr. (1985). Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads (Reprint of the 1971 ed.). Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-454-3.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found Confederate service here and Union service here.