| CSS Arkansas, a twin-screw ram, was laid down at Memphis,
Tennessee, in 1861 by J. T. Shirley. When the Union fleet imperiled that
city in May 1862 she was taken up the Yazoo River for completion. |
| On 26 May 1862 Lt. Isaac Newton Brown, CSN, took command; displaying
great energy he finished plating the "long and rakish" ram with utmost speed;
for example; "Without waiting for the apparatus to bend the railway iron
to the curve of our quarter and stern, and to the angles of the pilot house
... we tacked boiler plate iron over it (the stern) and very imperfectly
covered the pilot-house shield with a double thickness of bar iron ..." |
| Brown further noted Arkansas "now appeared as if a small
seagoing vessel had been cut down to the water's edge at both ends, leaving
a box for guns amidships. The straight sides of the box, a foot in thickness,
were covered with one layer of railway iron; the ends closed by timber one
foot square, planked across by 6" strips of oak, were then covered by one
course of railway iron laid up and down at an angle of 35 degrees ... shield
flat on top, covered with plank half-inch iron ... large smoke-stack came
through top of shield ... pilot house raised about one foot above shield
level. Through the latter led a small tin tube by which to convey orders
to the pilot." |
| One of Arkansas' junior officers, George W. Gift, wrote
candidly of her "very incomplete condition. The iron of her armor extended
only a foot or a little more above the water line, and there was not a
sufficiency of iron on hand to finish the entire ship ... gotten up under
... haste and incompetency ... I imagine that she was designed for a powerful
iron-clad gunboat, with an iron beak ... and several heavy guns ... before
she had arrived at anything like a state of completion, the plan was altered
and she was made into an hermaphrodite iron-clad ... instead of finishing
the ship with an ordinary rail and bulwark all round, her sides were 'built
on' amidships for 50 or 60 feet in length, so as to give an apology for
protection for 3 guns in each broad side ... The sides, it must be understood,
were perpendicular. ... the ends of this 'castle' or 'gun box' were sloping
or inclined from which were thrust 4 more guns, 2 at each end ... battery
of 10 guns ... 4 of the carriages on railroad iron chassis." |
| Opportunely a number of Confederate Army artillerists volunteered
to act as gunners on board Arkansas. On 15 July, Carondelet,
Tyler, and Queen of the West, carrying US Army sharpshooters
on a reconnaissance of the Yazoo River, encountered the ram and a spirited
engagement took place. Queen of the West got away but
Carondelet, Comdr. Henry Walke, USN, exposed his unprotected stern
to Arkansas' efficient fire long enough to be put out of command and
wen aground; Arkansas, of deeper draft, could not ram her there but
was already too close aboard to use her guns to finish off Carondelet
("could train our guns laterally very little"). Furthermore, Brown maintained
afterward that Walke had struck his colors, which the latter hotly denied.
Arkansas, under the circumstances, properly pursued Tyler instead,
inflicting heavy casualties. |
| Entering the Mississippi, Arkansas ran through the Union
fleet to take refuge under the Vicksburg batteries, but she was heavily damaged
and sustained many casualties. |
| Gift noted that since her boilers were "not lined on the fire
front with non-conducting material ... the whole mass of iron about the boilers
became red hot." Brown further explained, "The connections between the furnace
and smoke-stack (technically called the breechings) were shot away, destroying
the draught and letting the flames come out into the shield, raising the
temperature to 120 degrees, while it had already risen to 130 degrees in
the fire-room ... we went into action with 120 pounds of steam ... came out
with 20 pounds." |
| Admiral Farragut reported, "it was so dark by the time we reached
the town that nothing could be seen except the flashes of the guns." In the
heavy cannonade as Farragut's ships continued down the river below Vicksburg,
Winona and Sumter were substantially damaged -- probably as
much by Arkansas' guns as by the shore batteries. |
| Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory said of the event: "Naval
history records few deeds of greater heroism or higher professional ability
than this achievement of the Arkansas." |
| Arkansas evoked amazement and praise, however grudging,
from her adversaries also: Walke wrote, "Strange to say, the Arkansas,
in spite of her strength and weight, is quite fast -- nearly as much so as
the Tyler. ... Her bow is made sharp ... and her stern tapers so as
to permit the water to close readily behind her. In the center of her hull
she is broad and of great capacity, and for nearly 80 feet along the middle
she is almost flat-bottomed, like an ordinary freight or passenger boat on
the Western waters. |
| "The engines of the Arkansas are low pressure and of 900
H.P., all placed below the water-line, and well protected from injury by
hostile missiles. Her cylinders are said to be 24" diameter and 7-foot stroke.
She is provided with two propellers, working in the stern and acting
independently. ... 7 feet in diameter and are each provided with 4 wings
or flanges, and are capable of making 90 revolutions to the minute. In
consequence of the independent action of the engines, one propeller can be
resolved forward while the other is reversed, thus permitting the boat to
be turned in little more than her own length. |
| "Forward she carries an enormous beak of cast iron, which is so
made that the entire bow of the boat fits into it like a wedge into a piece
of timber. ... A sharp cast-iron beak, about 3 feet deep on her stem, projecting
4 feet therefrom, and clasping the bow 6 feet on either side, and bolted
through solid timber about 10 feet. Her cut-water was heavily iron-shod.
... The supporting sides of this beak are perforated in numerous places,
to admit huge bolts that pass completely through the bow and are riveted
at either end. The entire beak weighs 18,000 pounds, and is of sufficient
strength to penetrate the hull of any war vessel on the river. The sides
of the boat are of 18 inches solid timber, and, with their mail covering
of railroad and plate iron, are proof against any but the heaviest projectiles.
... Thoroughly covered with T-rail iron upon heavy timber bulkwards, and
cotton pressed casementing, almost impervious to shit. Her port-holes were
small, with heavy iron shutters." |
| Another of her officers, Actg. Master's Mate John A. Wilson, CSN
preserved for posterity that Arkansas, "being painted a dull brown
color could not be seen at a distance." Her protective coloration attracted
Admiral Farragut's attention also: "The ram is chocolate color, very low."
Gift said, "Our sides were the color of rust." |
| On 22 July Essex and Queen of the West ran down
past vicksburg and unsuccessfully attacked Arkansas. Again on 6 August
1862 she was engaged by Essex about 5 miles above Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Plagued by engine trouble, she was unable to fight or flee and drifted ashore.
There she was abandoned and fired to prevent capture. |
Length, 165'; Beam, 11'6"; Speed, 8 knots; Complement, 200; Armament,
two 9" smooth bore, two 9" 64 pdr., two 9" shell guns, two 6" rifles, two
32-pdr smooth bore |
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