CSS ''Huntsville'' was a Confederate

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

floating battery built at

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...

, from 1862 to 1863 during the American Civil War.

History

''Huntsville'' was ordered on May 1, 1862, by the Confederate States Navy. She was launched at the Confederate Naval Works at Selma on February 7, 1863, and finished in

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

. She was finally delivered on August 1, 1863. She was only partially armored, with the armor plate delivered by the Shelby Iron Company of Shelby, Alabama, and the

Atlanta Rolling Mill The Atlanta Rolling Mill (later the Confederate Rolling Mill) was constructed in 1858 by Lewis Schofield and James Blake and soon after, Schofield and William Markham took it over and transformed it into the South's second most productive rolling ...

. She had defective engines that were obtained from a river steamer and an incomplete armament, so was assigned to guard the waters around Mobile. ''Huntsville'' escaped up the Spanish River following the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864. The city of Mobile held out another eight months, with the upper portion of Mobile Bay remaining in Confederate hands. She, along with the , was scuttled to prevent capture on April 12, 1865, following the surrender of the city. The wreck lies where the Spanish River splits off from the

Mobile River The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georg ...

on the north side of Blakeley Island, just north of Mobile, until being located in 1985.

Notes

References

* * * * * Ironclad floating batteries of the Confederate States Navy Alabama in the American Civil War Ships built in Selma, Alabama 1863 ships Maritime incidents in April 1865 Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Alabama coast {{AmericanCivilWar-stub