Friday, September 07, 2007

Naval Forces of both sides.

Union:

Pre-CW strength: 1563 officers and 7500 enlisted were in the US Navy at the outbreak of the Civil War.

Of the officers, 321 resigned their commissions when their states seceded (or were possibly going to in the case of Franklin Buchanan, who resigned when he thought Maryland was seceding. When Maryland did not secede, Buchanan tried to take back his resignation, but that was refused).

The pre-CW navy consisted of:

21 sloops of war: 5 in Home Squadron, 4 in the East Indies, 2 in the Mediterranean, 1 near Brazil, 3 patrolling the African Coast, and 6 in the Pacific.

12 steamers (steam powered ships): 4 in Home Squadron, 1 in the East Indies, 1 in the Mediterranean, 1 near Brazil, 4 patrolling the African Coast, and 1 in the Pacific.

3 frigates: 1 in Home Squadron, 1 in the East Indies, and 1 near Brazil.

2 storeships: 1 in the hone Squadron and 1 patrolling the African Coast.

The main advantage the North had was the ability to draw upon civilian sources for ships and personnel. Also there was a great advantage that the Union was able to control the possession of the Navy Yards, with their dry docks and maintenance facilities. Norfolk, VA was briefly held by the Confederates but had to give that up in 1862. Pensacola, FL could not be taken as long as the Union held Fort Pickens.

The main problem was that even as President Lincoln was ordering a blockade of Southern ports, there were not enough ships to even begin one. It was fortunate that Lincoln had Gideon Welles as Secretary of the Navy. He embarked on a program of not only constructing new ship, but buying civilian ships for conversion to war vessels. Finding volunteers to crew them were not too hard, many civilians were run off the seas by the presence of Confederate commerce raiders that were already making an influence.

Another advantage that the union had was the ability to use new technologies, and the industrial base to exploit that advantage. Even though the Confederates were the first to deploy a warship with iron cladding on the outside, the Union was not far behind, and soon overtook the South in iron warship production.

The Blockade:

The coasts of the CSA were segmented into four zones by the time a proper blockade was in place, in 1862.
As of 1864 (unless otherwise mentioned):

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron:
Commanders:

Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough (1861-1862)
Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee (1862-1864)
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter (1864-1865)
Rear Admiral William Radford (1865)

Flagship: USS Minnesota
Ironclad steamer: USS Roanoke
Steamers: Fort Jackson, Shenandoah, Connecticut, St. Lawrence, Keystone State, Hetzel, Florida, Louisiana, Cambridge, State of Georgia, Mercedita, Maratanza, Morse, Nansemond, Southfield, Niphon, Daylight, Montgomery, Commodore Perry, Mount Vernon, Britannia, Governor Buckingham, Houquah, Lockwood, Underwriter, Calypso, Commodore Barney, Commodore Hull, Wyandotte, Mt. Washington, Commodore Jones, Stepping Stones, Lilack, Young Rover, Mystic, Emma, General Putnam, Victoria, Hunchback, Shawsheen, Samuel Rotan, Whitehead, Cohasset, Fab-Kee, and Seymour.
Gunboat: Miami.
Supply ship: Newbern.
Support ship: Release.
Sloop: Granite.
Tugboats: Alert and Zouave.
Storeship: Albemarle.

Area covered: Coasts of Virginia and North Carolina.

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron:
Commander:

Real Admiral John Dahlgren (1863-1865)

Flagship: USS Wabash
Ironclad Steamers: Lehigh, Passaic, Nantucket, Montauk, Nahant, Patapsco, New Ironsides, and Catskill.
Steamers: Canandaigua, Housatonic, Pawnee, Sonoma, Paul Jones, Mahaska, Cimmaron, Nipsic, Chippewa, Unadilla, Ottawa, Huron, Water Witch, Marblehead, Wissahickon, Seneca, Memphis, Lodona, Flambeau, Commodore McDonough, Mohawk, Home, Potomska, Stettin, Iris, Philadelphia, O. M. Pettit, Norwich, Mary Sanford, E. G. Hale, South Carolina, Oleander, Geranium, Larkspur, Daffodil, Jonquil, Carnation, Clover, Dandelion, and Columbine.
Barques: Ethan Allen, Brazilliera, A. Houghton, Kingfisher, Fernandina, and Midnight.
Schooners: Hope, Dan Smith, F. A. Ward, Racer, C. P. Williams, George Mangham, Norfolk Packet, and Blunt.
Ordinance sloop: John Adams.
Storeships: Supply and Vermont.

Area covered: Coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and of east Florida to Key West. Main focus was on Charleston, SC.

East Gulf Blockading Squadron (ships assigned as of 1863):
Commanders:

Rear Admiral William Mervine (1861)
Flag officer William McKean (1861-1862)

Flagship: St Lawrence.
Steamers: San Jacinto, Penguin, Sagamore, Tahoma, Port Royal, Somerset, Lodona, Fort Henry, Huntsville, Magnolia, and Stars and Stripes.
Barques: Pursuit, Gemshok, James L. Davis, Roebuck, James S. Chambers, Amanda, Ethan Allen, and Houghton.
Sloop of War: Dale
Schooners: Eugenie, Beauregard, and Wanderer.

Area covered: West Florida coast from Key West to the Alabama-Mississippi line.

West Gulf Blockading Squadron:
Commanders:

Rear Admiral David Farragut (1862-1864)
Flag Officer James Palmer (1864-1865)
Real Admiral Henry Thatcher (1865)

Flagship: USS Hartford.
Steamers: Pensacola, Ossipee, Richmond, Lacawanna, Itasca, Monongahela, Metacomet, Oneida, Princess Royal, Seminole, Octorara, Kanawha, Genesee, Galena, Owasco, Katahdin, Port Royal, Chocura, Pembina, Penobscot, Kennebec, Pinola, Cayuga, Estrella, New London, Aroostook, Sciota, Arkansas, Albatross, John P. Jackson, Virginia, Pengyin, Tennessee, Arizona, Antona, Granite City, Jasmine, Hollyhock, Commodore, and Eugenie.
Steam Frigate: Colorado.
Sloops: Portsmouth and Vincennes.
Barques: W. G. Anderson, Arthur, and J. C. Kuhn.
Brig: Bohio and Seafoam.
Support Ships: Fearnot, and Nightingale.
Barquentine: Horace Beals.
Yacht: Corypheus.
Schooners: Maria Wood, Orvetta, John Griffiths, Sam Houston, Sarah Bruen, Henry James, and Oliver H. Lee.
Storeship: Potomac.

Area covered: The coast from the Alabama-Mississippi line to the Rio Grande River (Texas-Mexico border).

Mississippi River Squadron:

Flagship: Blackhawk.
Ironclad Steamers: Essex, Eastport, Lafayette, Benton, Louisville, Tuscumbia, Choctaw, Conestoga, Mound City, Lexington, Pittsburg, Chillicothe, Neosho, Carondelet, and Osage.
Steamers: Moose, Taylor, Forest Rose, Fort Hindman, Hastings, Brilliant, St. Clair, Silver Cloud, Covington, Queen City, Tawah, Key West, Peosta, Reindeer, General Price, General Bragg, Rattler, Exchange, Brown, Linden, Kenwood, Fair Play, Springfield, Fawn, Paw Paw, Naunkeag, Silver Lake, Champion, Alexandria, Great Western, Judge Torrence, New Era, Signal, Prairie Bird, Curlew, Little Rebel, Victory, Tensas, General Pillow, Bobb, Argosy, Ouachita, New National, General Lyon, and Samson.
Hospital Steamer: Red Rover.
Tugboats: Pansy, Fern, Thistle, Laurel, Mignonette, Daisy, Mistletoe, Myrtle, Dahlia, Hyacinth, and Ivy.
Inspection Ship: Abraham.

Potomac River Flotilla:

Steamers: Ella, Yankee, Commodore Read, Currituck, Jacob Bell, Fuchsia, Couer de Lion, Resolute, Freeborn, Anacostia, Wyandank, Tulip, Primrose, Teaser, and Dragon.
Schooners: Sophonia, Matthew Vassar, Adolph Hugel, and William Bacon.


East India Squadron (Indonesia, Singapore):

Side-wheel sloops: Saginaw and Wyoming.

West Indian Squadron (Caribbean):

Side-wheel gunboat: Tioga.
Screw driven vessels: Galatea and Neptune.
Sloop: Macedonian.
Barque: Gemsbok.
(These vessels were assigned to the East Gulf blockading Squadron in 1864.)

Brazil Squadron (South Atlantic):

Screw driven vessel: Wachusett.
Side-wheel vessels: Pulaski and Emma Henry.


Mediterranean Squadron:

Screw driven vessel: Iroquois.
Sloop: Constellation.

European Squadron (North Atlantic, North Sea):

Frigate: Niagara.
Screw driven sloops: Kearsarge and Sacramento.

Africa Squadron:

Sloop: Constellation until 1862, then assigned to European Squadron.

Pacific Squadron:

Barques: Saranac, Fredonia, and Massachusetts.
Side-wheel sloop: Saginaw.
Screw driven vessels: Lancaster and Wyoming.
Double-ended gunboat: Wateree.
Side-wheel gunboat: Monongo.
Storeships: Falmouth and Relief.
Sloops: John Adams, Jamestown, and St. Mary’s.

Receiving ships:

These vessels served as basic training centers and never left port:

Allegheny, at Baltimore, MD.
North Carolina, at New York, NY.
Ohio, at Boston, MA.
Potomac, at Pensacola, FL.
Princeton, at Philadelphia, PA.
Clara Rolson and Grampus, assigned to the Mississippi River Squadron.
John Hancock, at San Francisco, CA.

Special Squadron:

This group was formed in January 1864 to hunt Confederate commerce raiders:

Steamers: Mohican, Sacramento, Michigan, Wachusett, and Iroquois.
Steam sloop: Kearsarge.
Support ship: Onward.
Sloop: St. Louis.


Confederate:

The CSA was not a seafaring region to begin with, but they had to in order to keep the field armies supplied. With this in mind, there were a few miracles, such as CSS Virginia, an ironclad worship, or the H. L. Hunley, a submarine. They did, however, had these insurmountable disadvantages:

Lack of industry: with one major factory and a few minor ones, the industrial base was just not there. Iron for cladding was rolled at the Tredegar Iron Works at Richmond, VA, usually from salvaged iron, railroad rails, or even church bells.

Lack of facilities: The North had all the proper naval facilities, even in their territory. They briefly held the Norfolk Navy Yard long enough to build the Virginia, but had to abandon it. They made up for that by using fields, swamps, and inlets for construction sites.

Lack of trained personnel: Only 321 officers had left the US Navy for Southern service and almost no enlisted. The officers made a good core for the embryonic service, but the enlisted force had to be started from scratch.

Lack of ships: since there was not a wholesale defection of Navy vessels, the CS Navy had to build that from scratch as well. CS President Davis started that by authorizing Letters of Marque and Reprisal, allowing privately owned ships to be used in military operations against Union shipping. These were considered pirates by the Federals and their crews subject to the death penalty, but not many cases were prosecuted. From these privateers came the commerce raiders that were the bane of the Union.

Ships basically had to be either built, bought, of finagled from foreign sources, or locally produced by rather inventive methods.

All of this, under the auspices of Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory.

Besides commerce raiding, the CS Navy was primarily a costal and river operations force, using small vessels to keep things going.

The vessels mentioned were with these particular fleets at one time or another. Some were destroyed or captured. Others were captured Union naval or civilian vessels.

Texas Costal Flotilla:

Gunboats: Bayou City, Clifton, General Bee, Josiah H. Bell, Mary Hill, and Uncle Ben.
Steamers: A. S. Ruthven, Era No. 3, Florida, Grand Bay, Island City, Jeff Davis, John F. Carr, Lone Star, Lucy Gwinn, Neptune, Roebuck, and Sun Flower.
Sail vessels: Breaker, Dodge, Elma, Fanny Morgan, George Buckhart, Julia A. Hodges, Lecompt, Royal Yacht, and Velocity.

Mississippi Defense Fleet:

Ironclad: Louisiana
Gunboats: A. B. Seger, Anglo-Norman, Anglo-Saxon, Arrow, Barataria, Calhoun, Diana, Dollie Webb, General Quitman, Governor Moore, Ivy, Jackson, A. J. Cotton, James L. Day, McRae, Mobile, Oregon, Pamlico, Tuscaora, Webb, and Carondelet.
Spar Torpedo Boat: Pioneer.
Rams: Colonel Lovell, Defiance, General Beauregard, General Bragg, General Breckinridge, General Earl Van Dorn, General Lovell, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Sterling Price, General Sumter, Little Rebel, Resolute, Stonewall Jackson, Warrior, and Web.
Sail vessels: Coryphus, Washington.
Tugboats: Bell, Algerine, and Boston.
Steamers: Dan, Darby, Empire Parish, General Quitman, Gossamer, Hart, Landis, Mosher, Music, Orizaba, St. Philip, Star, Texas, and W. Burton.
Side-wheel vessel: Phoenix.
Floating Battery: New Orleans.

Mississippi River Fleet:
Ironclads: Arkansas, and Missouri.
Gunboats: General Polk, Grand Duke, J. A. Cotton, Livingston, Maurepas, Pontchartrain, Queen of the West, St. Mary, Slidell, and Tom Sugg.
Steamers: Admiral, Alfred Robb, Argo, Argosy, Argus, B. M. Moore, Beauregard, Ben McCullough, Berwick Bay, Bracelet, Charm, Cheney, Clara Dolson, Cotton Plant, Countess, De Sota, Dew Drop, Doubloon, Dr. Batey, Dunbar, Edward J. Gay, Elmira, Emma Bett, Era No. 5, Fairplay, Fred Kennett, Frolic, Gordon Grant, Grampus, Grand Era, Gray Cloud, H. D. Mears, H. R. W. Hill, Hartford City, Hope, J. D. Clark, J. D. Swain, Jeff Davis, John Simonds, John Walsh, Julius, Kanawha Valley, Kaskaskia, Kentucky, Lady Walton, Linn Boyd, Louis D’Or, Louisville, Magenta, Magnolia, Mars, Mary E. Keene, Mary Patterson, May, Merite, Mohawk, Moro, Muscle, Natchez, Nelson, New National, Nina Simmes, Ohio Belle, Osceola, Pargoud, Paul Jones, Prince, Prince of Wales, R. J. Lockland, Red Rover, Republic, Robert Fulton, St. Francis No. 3, Sallie Wood, Sam Kirkman, Samuel Orr, Scotland, Sharp, Sovereign, Starlight, T. D. Hine, 35th Parallel, Trent, Twilight, Vicksburg, Victoria, Volunteer, W. W. Crawford, Wade Water Belle, White Cloud, and Yazoo.

Mobile Defense Squadron:
Ironclads: Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Tennessee II.
Gunboats: Gaines, Morgan, Baltic, and Selma.
Steamers: Alert, Crescent, Dick Keys, and James Battle.
Spar Torpedo Boats: St. Patrick, Mobile II, and Gunnison.
Cutter: Lewis Cass.
Transport: Iron King.
Tender: Swan.
Floating Batteries: Danube and Phoenix.
Receiving Ship: Dalman.
Pensacola Defense Squadron:
Steamers: Governor Milton, Berosa, Neafie, Helen, and Spray.
Gunboat: Chattahoochee.
Transport: Turel.
Sloop: Helen.
Storeship: Bradford.

Savannah Defense Squadron:
Ironclads: Atlanta and Savannah.
Gunboats: Macon and Isondiga.
Steamers: Amazon, Beauregard, and Jeff Davis.
Tenders: Firefly and Resolute.
Transports: General Lee, Ida, Leesburg, Robert Habersham, and Talomico.
Sail Vessel: Gallatin.
Receiving Ships: Sampson, and Savannah.
Floating Battery: Georgia.

Charleston Defense Squadron:
Ironclads: Chicora, Palmetto State, Charleston, and Columbia.
Gunboat: Peedee.
Steamers: Chesterfield, Darlington, and Lady Davis.
Spar Torpedo Boat: David, Midge, Torch, Numbers 1 through 8, and H. L. Hunley (officially listed as a spar torpedo boat, but this was a submarine).
Sail Vessel: Petrel.
Tenders: Catawba, Aid, and General Clinch.
Transports: Etiwan, Huntress, Marion, Planter, Queen Mah, Sumter, and Transport.
Receiving Ship: Indian Chief.

North Carolina Coast and River Fleet:
Ironclads: Albemarle, Nuese, North Carolina, and Raleigh.
Gunboats: Fanny, Ellis, Seabird, Uncle Ben, and Yadkin.
Steamers: Appomattox, Bombshell, Clarrendon, Cotton Plant, Curlew, Currituck, Dolly, Egypt Mills, Equator, Forrest, Governor Morehead, Junaluska, Weldon N. Edwards, and Winslow.
Tender: Caswell.
Floating Battery: Artic.
Transports: Albemarle, Colonel Hill, Hawley, and Wilson.
Sail Vessels: Black Warrior, Jeff Davis, Manassas, and Renshaw.
Storeship: M. C. Etheridge.

Virginia Coast and River Fleet (except James River):
Ironclad: Virginia.
Spar Torpedo Boats: Scorpion and Squib.
Gunboats: Jamestown, Satellite, and Teaser.
Steamers: Curtis peck, General Scott, City of Richmond, Harmony, Logan, Northampton, Rappahannock, Reliance: Roanoke, Rondout, Towns, and Young America.
Tugboats: John B. White and Pohowatan.
Sail Vessels: Beauregard, Duane, and Germantown.
Receiving Vessel: Confederate States.

James River Squadron:
Ironclads: Virginia II, Richmond, and Fredericksburg.
Gunboats: Beauford, Drewry, Hampton, Nansemond, Raleigh/Roanoke, Patrick Henry (CS Naval Academy), and Torpedo.
Steamers: Allison, Beaufort, Schultz, Seaboard, and Shrapnel.
Spar Torpedo Boats: Hornet and Wasp.
Torpedo Boat Tender: Torpedo.
Sail Vessel: Gallego.

Commerce Raiders: Alabama, Alexandria, Florida, Georgia, Georgiana, Nashville, Rappahannock, Shenandoah, Sumter, Tallahassee, Tacony, and Tuscaloosa.

CS Government Blockade Runners: Bat, Deer, Owl, Stag, Lark, Wren, Condor, Falcon, Flamingo, Ptarmigan, Arizona, Atlantic, Austin, Beauregard, Bahama, Bermuda, Colonel Lamb, Hope, Cornubia, Don, Granite City, Greyhound, Harriet Pickney, Juno, Laurel, Lynx, Magnolia, Matagorda, Merrimac, Phantom, Robert E. Lee, Theodora, Victoria, and William G. Hawes.

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