Union River Ironclad 1861–65

Union River Ironclad 1861–65 PDF Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 178200839X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 87

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Book Description
At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River, which was a vital strategic artery. In what would prove the vital naval campaign of the war, both sides fought for control of the river. While the Confederates relied on field fortifications and small gunboats, the Union built a series of revolutionary river ironclads. First commissioned in January 1862, these ironclads spent the next two years battling for control of the Mississippi, fighting in a string of decisive engagements that altered the entire course of the war. This book explains how these vessels worked, how they were constructed, how they were manned and how they were fought.

Union River Ironclad 1861–65

Union River Ironclad 1861–65 PDF Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 178200839X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 87

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Book Description
At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the Mississippi River, which was a vital strategic artery. In what would prove the vital naval campaign of the war, both sides fought for control of the river. While the Confederates relied on field fortifications and small gunboats, the Union built a series of revolutionary river ironclads. First commissioned in January 1862, these ironclads spent the next two years battling for control of the Mississippi, fighting in a string of decisive engagements that altered the entire course of the war. This book explains how these vessels worked, how they were constructed, how they were manned and how they were fought.

Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861–65

Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861–65 PDF Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472800613
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
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.

Confederate Ironclad 1861–65

Confederate Ironclad 1861–65 PDF Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781841763071
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The creation of a Confederate ironclad fleet was a miracle of ingenuity, improvisation and logistics. Surrounded by a superior enemy fleet, Confederate designers adapted existing vessels or created new ones from the keel up with the sole purpose of breaking the naval stranglehold on the nascent country. Her ironclads were build in remote cornfields, on small inland rivers or in naval yards within sight of the enemy. The result was an unorthodox but remarkable collection of vessels, which were able to contest the rivers and coastal waters of the South for five years. This title explains how these vessels worked, how they were constructed, how they were manned and how they fought.

War on the Waters

War on the Waters PDF Author: James M. McPherson
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 0807837326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
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.

Confederate Raider 1861–65

Confederate Raider 1861–65 PDF Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781841764962
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
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.

Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861–65

Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861–65 PDF Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781841767208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
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.

Confederate Ironclad Vs Union Ironclad

Confederate Ironclad Vs Union Ironclad PDF Author: Ron Field
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships. With the parallel pressures of civil war and the industrial revolution, technology advanced at a breakneck speed. It was the South who first utilized ironclads as they attempted to protect their ports from the Northern blockade. Impressed with their superior resistance to fire and their ability to ram vulnerable wooden ships, the North began to develop its own rival fleet of ironclads. Eventually these two products of this first modern arms race dueled at the battle of Hampton Roads in a clash that would change the face of naval warfare. Fully illustrated with cutting-edge digital artwork, rare photographs and first-person perspective gun sight views, this book allows the reader to discover the revolutionary and radically different designs of the two rival Ironclads - the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor - through an analysis of each ship's weaponry, ammunition and steerage. Compare the contrasting training of the crews and re-live the horrors of the battle at sea in a war which split a nation, communities and even families.

Tinclads in the Civil War

Tinclads in the Civil War PDF Author: Myron J. Smith, Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786457031
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
Once the Union Army gained control of the upper rivers of the Mississippi Valley during the first half of 1862, slow and heavy ironclads proved ineffective in patrolling the waters. Hastily outfitted steamboats were covered with thin armor and pressed into duty. These "tinclads" fought Confederate forces attacking from the riverbanks, provided convoy for merchant steamers, enforced revenue measures, and offered tow, dispatch, and other fleet support services. This history documents the service records and duties of these little-known vessels of the Union fleet.

Civil War Ironclads

Civil War Ironclads PDF Author: William H. Roberts
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801887512
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Honorable Mention, Science and Technology category, John Lyman Book Awards, North American Society for Oceanic History Civil War Ironclads supplies the first comprehensive study of one of the most ambitious programs in the history of naval shipbuilding. In constructing its new fleet of ironclads, William H. Roberts explains, the U.S. Navy faced the enormous engineering challenges of a largely experimental technology. In addition, it had to manage a ship acquisition program of unprecedented size and complexity. To meet these challenges, the Navy established a "project office" that was virtually independent of the existing administrative system. The office spearheaded efforts to broaden the naval industrial base and develop a marine fleet of ironclads by granting shipbuilding contracts to inland firms. Under the intense pressure of a wartime economy, it learned to support its high-technology vessels while incorporating the lessons of combat. But neither the broadened industrial base nor the advanced management system survived the return of peace. Cost overruns, delays, and technical blunders discredited the embryonic project office, while capital starvation and never-ending design changes crippled or ruined almost every major builder of ironclads. When Navy contracts evaporated, so did the shipyards. Contrary to widespread belief, Roberts concludes, the ironclad program set Navy shipbuilding back a generation.

The Civil War on the Mississippi

The Civil War on the Mississippi PDF Author: Barbara Brooks Tomblin
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813167043
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 543

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Book Description
The naval historian presents a “well-written, fast-paced” study of Civil War riverine combat based on the personal accounts of officers and sailors (Civil War News). As one of the most important transportation systems in the country, the Mississippi River became a strategically vital asset to both sides of the Civil War. The Confederacy relied on the river for cotton exportation as well as food and military supplies. The Union sought control of the river not only to disrupt Southern transport, but also to bisect the South as part of the Anaconda Plan. Drawing heavily on the diaries and letters of officers and common sailors, Barbara Brooks Tomblin explores the Union navy’s fight to win control of the Mississippi. Her approach provides fresh insight into major battles such as Memphis and Vicksburg as well as the fascinating perspectives of ordinary sailors who engaged in brown-water warfare. These men speak of going ashore in foraging parties, assisting the surgeon in the amputation of a fellow crewman's arm, and liberating supplies of whiskey from captured enemy vessels. They also offer candid assessments of their commanding officers, observations of the local people living along the river, and their views on the war. The Civil War on the Mississippi provides a comprehensive account of the action on the western rivers as well as a synthesis of vivid first-person accounts from the front lines.