C.S.S. Manassas (Civil War)

“CSS Manassas, formerly the steam propeller Enoch Train, was built at Medford, Massachusetts, by J. O. Curtis in 1855. A New Orleans commission merchant, Captain John A. Stevenson, acquired her for use as a privateer and fitted her out at Algiers, Louisiana as an ironclad ram of radically modern design …”

This strikingly modern design bears a strong resemblance to the 1858 Winans Cigar Ship, previously mentioned here. From 1858 into the early days of the war, the Winans Ship was frequently noted in the news and its cigar-shaped form touted as a contributor to a speedy vessel.

The Manassas was a clever attempt to recycle an old vessel into something completely new.

Learn more at http://civilwartalk.com/Resource_Center/CS/Confederate_Navy/coastal-ironclads-c-s-s-manassas-a99.html