CSS ''Nashville'' was a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

-rigged, side-paddle-wheel passenger steamer that served with the Confederate Navy during the Civil War.

History

Originally a United States Mail Service ship, the USMS ''Nashville'' was built at Greenpoint,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1853. Between 1853 and 1861 she was engaged in running between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. During the

Battle of Fort Sumter The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender by the United States Army, beginning the American Civil War. Follo ...

, the USMS ''Nashville'' sailed into Charleston without flying the US national standard and was fired upon by the USRC ''Harriet Lane'' which marked the first shot of the naval war in the Civil War. The ''Nashville'' raised the American flag, and after the surrender of Sumter, the ''Nashville'' docked at Charleston. After the fall of Fort Sumter, the Confederates captured her at Charleston and fitted her out as a

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

. Under the command of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Robert B. Pegram,

CSN ''CSN'' may refer to: Companies * CSN Stores, former name of Wayfair, American e-commerce company * CSN International (Christian Satellite Network), religious radio broadcaster based on radio station KAWZ in Twin Falls, Idaho * ''Centrala Studies ...

, she ran the blockade on October 21, 1861, and headed across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the first ship of war to fly the

Confederate flag The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...

in English waters. On November 19, 1861, near the British Isles, she boarded and burned an American merchant ship, the ''Harvey Birch'', the first such action by a Confederate commerce raider in the North Atlantic during the war. ''Nashville'' returned to

Beaufort, North Carolina Beaufort ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Carteret County, North Carolina, Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1713 and incorporated in 1723, Beaufort is the fourth oldest town in North Carolina (after Bath, Nor ...

on February 28, 1862, having captured two prizes worth

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

66,000 during the cruise. In this interval she was sold for use as a

blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

and renamed ''Thomas L. Wragg''. On November 5, 1862, she was commissioned as the

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Rattlesnake''. After she ran fast aground on the

Ogeechee River The Ogeechee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It heads at the confluence of its North and South ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, the

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...

destroyed her with shell fire from 11-inch (279-mm) and 15-inch (381-mm) turret guns on February 28, 1863.

References

External links

Machinery from the C.S.S. Nashville
historical marker
Destruction of the C.S.S. Nashville
historical marker
Sinking of CSS Nashville
historical marker Cruisers of the Confederate States Navy Blockade runners of the Confederate States Navy Shipwrecks in rivers Ships built in Brooklyn 1853 ships Shipwrecks of the Georgia (U.S. state) coast Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Maritime incidents in February 1863 Captured ships Naval magazine explosions {{US-mil-ship-stub

History

See also

References

External links