Harper's Weekly sketch of 11 February 1865 of CS Navy sortie 23 January 1865 on the James River; Ironclad at right is the CSS Virginia II; the wreck at the left is the CSS Navy Training Ship "Patrick Henry"
History
Confederate States
Name
CSS Virginia II
Namesake
Virginia
Builder
William Arthur Graves
Laid down
April 1862?
Launched
June 29, 1863
Commissioned
May 18, 1864
Homeport
Richmond, Virginia
Fate
Burned to prevent capture; remains partially raised and salvaged for scrap
CSS Virginia II was a Confederate Navy steam-powered ironclad ram laid down in 1862 at the William Graves' shipyard in Richmond, Virginia. Acting Constructor William A. Graves, CSN, was the superintendent in charge of her construction. In order to conserve scarce iron plating, he ordered the ship's armored casemate shortened from the specifications given in John L. Porter's original building plans; in addition, the ship's iron-plating, while six inches thick on the casemate's forward face, was reduced to five inches on her port, starboard, and aft faces. Due to the shortening of her casemate, the number of her cannon were reduced to a single 11" smoothbore, a single 8" rifle, and two 6.4" rifles.
The Virginia II was named after the more famous Confederate ironclad, CSS Virginia, also called the Merrimack because of the ship's origins as a Union frigate. The original Virginia's success at the Battle of Hampton Roads caused "gunboat associations" to emerge around the South, mainly driven by women; their efforts helped with the construction of the Virginia II.[1]
CSSVirginiaII was a Confederate Navy steam-powered ironclad ram laid down in 1862 at the William Graves' shipyard in Richmond, Virginia. Acting Constructor...
ironclad CSSVirginiaII, but ran into a hawser and then ran aground. At 07:10 on the morning of January 24, Union fire struck the abandoned tender CSS Drewry...
ship that CSSVirginia was built upon CSSVirginiaII, an ironclad ram. USRC Virginia for ships of the US Revenue Cutter Service USS Virginian USS West...
The CSS Beaufort (/ˈbjuːfərt/ BEW-fert) was an iron-hull gunboat that served in North Carolina and Virginia during the American Civil War. Originally...
CSS Shenandoah, formerly Sea King and later El Majidi, was an iron-framed, teak-planked, full-rigged sailing ship with auxiliary steam power chiefly known...
writers, months before the actual CSSVirginiaII was ever laid down. The ironclad was thus finished at Richmond, Virginia, in July 1862 and placed in commission...
CSS Columbia was an ironclad steamer ram in the Confederate States Navy and later in the United States Navy. Columbia was built at Charleston, South Carolina...
armored with four inches of railroad iron, similar to the armor used on CSSVirginiaII. There were two shuttered gun ports on each of her four casemate sides...
destroyer sunk during the Battle of Jutland USS Varuna CSSVirginiaCSSVirginiaIIVirginia Navy Fleet sunk by Benedict Arnold during the American Revolutionary...
double-banded 8 in (203 mm) rifles in April and May 1864. One was mounted in CSSVirginiaII while another was sent to the batteries defending the James River....
Constructor, John L. Porter, based on his earlier work on the ironclad CSSVirginia, retaining the traditional curving ship-type hull, but with flat ends...
Richmond, VirginiaII, Hampton, Drewry, Nansemond, the gunboats CSS Torpedo and CSS Beaufort, and the torpedo boats CSS Hornet, CSS Wasp, and CSS Scorpion...
CSS Muscogee was an casemate ironclad built in Columbus, Georgia for the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Her original paddle configuration...
by the Confederates as they evacuated Richmond, Virginia on April 3, 1865. The commanders of the CSS Hampton were: Lieutenant George W. Harrison (as of...
John Mercer Brooke Franklin Buchanan (commanded the ironclads CSSVirginiaII and CSS Tennessee) French Forrest Catesby ap Roger Jones Sydney Smith Lee...
CSS Chickamauga, originally the blockade runner Edith, was purchased by the Confederate States Navy at Wilmington, North Carolina, in September 1864....
CSS Patrick Henry was a ship built in New York City in 1859 by the renowned William H. Webb for the Old Dominion Steam Ship Line as the civilian steamer...
CSS Neuse (/nuːs/ NOOSE) was a steam-powered ironclad ram of the Confederate States Navy that served in the latter part the American Civil War and was...
received word of the construction of the Confederate casemate ironclad, CSSVirginia, Congress appropriated $1.5 million on 3 August to build one or more...
CSS Drewry was a gunboat of the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. This wooden gunboat had a foredeck protected by an iron V-shaped...
CSS Charleston was a casemate ironclad ram built for the Confederate Navy (CSN) at Charleston, South Carolina during the American Civil War. Funded by...
Global Information
Confederate States