Arkansas-class ironclad
BuildersJohn T. Shirley, Memphis, Tennessee
OperatorsConfederate States Navy
Built range1861–1862
In service range1862
Total ships planned2
Total ships completed1
Total ships lost2
Arkansas-class ironclad
Casemate ironclad
Length165 ft (50.3 m)
Beam35 ft (10.7 m)
Draft11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Power2 propellers
Propulsion2 Steam engines
Speed7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph)
Complement200 officers and enlisted men
ArmamentDesigned for 6–8 guns

The Arkansas-class ironclads were a class of two casemate ironclads ordered by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 to operate in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War.[1] Both were later destroyed to prevent Union capture.

Ships

Construction data
Ship nameBuilder[1]Laid down[1]Launched[1]Commissioned[1]Fate[1]
CSS ArkansasJohn T. Shirley, Memphis, TennesseeOctober 186122 April 186226 May 1862Destroyed to prevent capture, 6 August 1862
CSS Tennesseecolspan=2 align=centerBurned to prevent capture, 5 June 1862

References

  1. ^ Silverstone, pp. 150–151

Bibliography

  • 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. (2015). The Confederate Steam Navy 1861-1865. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-4824-2.
  • 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 [1971]). Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-454-3.