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

Popoffka Novgorod (1874)

Here is a link for a very detailed 1874 article regarding an interesting class of circular ironclad Russian ships -

http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Naval_Science(1874)_p1.html

Infernal Machines (Book)

Whether you are new to the topic of Civil War “infernal machines” or are looking for an interesting account of interesting Confederate weapons, you will want to check out Milton F. Perry’s book Infernal Machines: The Story of Confederate Submarine and Mine Warfare,  Originally published in 1965, the book has since been reprinted as a paperback.

It is arranged as a narrative of various activities and includes mentions of many interesting devices as well as details of how these devices were employed during the war.  Some of the devices mentioned include:

-Torpedoes built by Matthew Fountaine Maury

-Electrically fired mines

-Gabriel Rains’a Subterra Shells (land mines)

-F.D. Lee’s Torpedo Ram (torpedo boat)

-C.S.S. David (torpedo boat)

-Images of floating mines.

-Mentions of a submarine on the James River in 1861 (though this boat is lost, traces of it have been found in surviving historian Mark Ragan.

-The Pioneer and Hunley (submarines)

-The Secret Service Corps -who employed iron mines shaped like lumps of coal – when deployed into the coal bunkers of ships, these devices could spark fires or worse.

While some of the information in this book has been superseded by recent research (particularly the section on the Hunley) it is an entertaining read, and good introduction to the topic.

Winans Cigar Ships (1860s-1890s)

Besides steam guns, one of my other research interests is a unique class of 19th Century steam ships, called Winans Cigar Ships, that were developed by Maryland inventor Ross Winans and his sons. A fellow Winans enthusiast has created a beautiful website featuring 3rd reconstructions of the ships. Check it out at http://home.att.net/~karen.crisafulli/CigarBoats.html Be sure to look at the page closely – the images of the ironclad vessels they tried to convince the Russians to develop in the 1860s would have been truly incredible.

Railway Battery (1861)

In the early days of the American Civil War, in the wake of the April 29, 1861 Baltimore Riot, several key railroad bridges in Maryland were burned to prevent Union troops from traveling via rail from the North to Washington.
“Preparations were made to repair the burnt bridges between Havre de Grace and Baltimore … a singular railway battery was constructed in Philadelphia, to be used for the protection of the men engaged in the work, wrote historian Benjamin Lossing in 1866. “It was a car made of heavy boiler iron, musket proof with a 24-pound cannon mounted at one end, on a gun carriage. This was to fire grape, canister and chain shot, while a garrison of sixty men inside would have the opportunity to employ musketry, through holes pierced in the sides and ends for the purpose.” -Pictorial History of the Civil War, 1866.

Steal Clad Steam Chariots of War (1861)

Besides finding a detailed account of the McCarty Centrifugal Gun, (to be featured in a later post) readers of the July 6, 1861 Scientific American were treated to an editorial that mused on the use of chain mail and armored battle chariots, before suggesting a more modern adaptation. “An entirely new feature may also yet be introduced into warfare in the character of steel clad steam chariots. Each should consist of a light but strong road locomotive, covered with steel plates, and mounting a pivot rifled cannon on a shielded platform. The locomotive which was fired on by a masked battery at Vienna, Va., last week, would have been able to dislodge the enemy had it carried an 18 pounder, and been protected by an iron shield an inch thick. Steam locomotive batteries require special adaptations to secure new results, but there are inventors who can supply all the details. ” The writer also suggested an adaptation of yet another ancient weapon. “Mail clad towers may also be drawn or pushed up by steam engines close to batteries or forts. From these, soldiers may be able to send down showers of iron hail.”