Arkansas (ship, 1862)
 The Arkansas on the Mississippi |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Ironclad |
| Shipyard | |
| Order | August 24, 1861 |
| Keel laying | October 1861 |
| Launch | April 24, 1862 |
| Namesake | State of Arkansas |
| Commissioning | May 26, 1862 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk by the crew on August 6, 1862 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
800 ts |
| length |
50.3 meters |
| width |
10.7 meters |
| Draft |
3.5 meters (11.5 ft) |
| crew |
232 men |
| drive | |
| speed |
8 knots |
| Armament |
Total of 10 cannons 2 × 9-inch smoothbore cannons Dahlgren |
The Arkansas regularly as CSS Arkansas called, was a battleship of the Confederate States Navy in the American Civil War .
history
The Arkansas keel was laid in October 1861 in Memphis , Tennessee . In April 1862 it was relocated to the Yazoo River , Mississippi , USA , to prevent it from falling into the hands of the northern states. They had already conquered Memphis and the Arkansas sister ship , the Tennessee , had been burned in the dock to avoid falling into the hands of the Union Navy.
In May 1862, Captain Isaac N. Brown, who had been appointed captain of the ship, received in Vicksburg from the Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate States Navy in Richmond , the order to go to Greenwood to complete the ship there and to install the armament to let. When Brown arrived, however, he only found an unarmed, unarmored hull with dismantled machines. The iron intended for armor lay at the bottom of the river. After the armor plates were recovered from the river, the ship was moved to Yazoo City (Mississippi), where it was almost completely completed within five weeks with the help of Confederate troops. Before the end of the work, however , the Arkansas Yazoo City had to leave, as the water level in the river sank and the ship would otherwise have been stuck.
Skirmishes
The breakthrough to Vicksburg
At the time, the Northern Navy had imposed a river blockade on Vicksburg, which Captain Brown wanted to break. After driving about 15 miles, it was found that steam from the boiler had entered the front ammunition compartment, making the black powder wet and ultimately unusable. The crew then headed for a clearing on the banks of the Yazoo River, where the powder could be dried until sunrise. Immediately thereafter, three Northern ships were sighted heading for Arkansas . It was the Carondolet , the Tyler, and the Queen of the West . The three ships immediately took chase of the expiring Arkansas , which then led to an open battle in which the Arkansas could record its first success. She sank the Carondolet with one hit into the controls at the beginning of the engagement, then focused on the Tyler and the Queen of the West . These fled and lured the pursuing Arkansas in front of the pipes of a fleet of more than 20 warships of the northern states. Nevertheless, Captain Brown decided to risk the breakthrough, which he succeeded with the help of the moment of surprise.
The crews of the Union fleet were completely taken by surprise by this action and allowed the Arkansas to pass unhindered. In Vicksburg she was received with jubilation by the population.
The stay in Vicksburg and the battle that followed
After the breakthrough, however , the Arkansas was still within sight of the enemy fleet. The Union's plan was to unite its Upper Fleet and Lower Fleet in the morning to jointly attack and sink Arkansas . The plan ultimately only worked in part, as the two units attacked together and the Arkansas received a severe hit in the engine room, but could not completely shut down the ship. The batteries of the Vicksburg artillery positions offered support so fiercely that the Union ships had to retreat out of range for the time being. The following week the Arkansas was anchored in Vicksburg to be repaired and made ready for action again.
After the repairs were completed, the Arkansas opponents were forced to keep the steam engines running 24 hours a day, even on the hottest days of summer, as the ship could attack at any time. This was an intolerable condition for the commanders of the US Navy , which is why a renewed attack by Essex and the Queen of the West was ordered to destroy Arkansas . This failed again, however, as the Essex received a hit at close range and drifted away unable to maneuver. The Queen of the West also received a bad hit in the side, which also caused her to fail and had to be towed.
After this further defeat, the Northern Navy decided to break off the siege. The "Upper Fleet" was relocated to St. Louis and the "Lower Fleet" to New Orleans .
By the sinking of Arkansas four months later, the river off Vicksburg was free of Union Navy ships .
The final battle of Arkansas at Baton Rouge
After the victorious battles at Vicksburg, the Arkansas was summoned to Baton Rouge by General Earl Van Dorn to support an attack on land . Contrary to the orders of the Captain Brown, who was at this time in Grenada , Mississippi, not to sail because the steam engine was not fully operational, the ship left Vicksburg under the first officer Lieutenant Charles Read.
When Brown heard of this, he immediately boarded a train to Vicksburg, where he was told upon arrival that the Arkansas had left four hours ago, since General Van Dorn was ultimately in command of this section.
The crew tried everything to keep the ship moving, but the engines failed several times on the way to Baton Rouge. However, the Arkansas managed to get to its destination, where it met a small fleet of the northern states, including the Essex . During the battle, the machines failed again, which resulted in the unpowered Arkansas being stranded on the banks of the Mississippi. In view of the hopeless situation, the crew then destroyed the ship.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b John Spurgeon . Page from Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
- ^ Civil War Home . Page from Civil War Home. Retrieved March 18 at 4:50 pm
- ↑ Erich love . Side of Big Country. Retrieved March 10, 2010 4:41 PM
- ^ Civil War Home . Page from Civil War Home. Retrieved March 18 at 4:50 pm
- ↑ Mark Gerdes . Side of Arkansas Tripod. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
- ^ CSS Arkansas . Page from American Civil War. Retrieved March 10, 2010 5:02 pm