When Mallory, a Florida senator, became
secretary of the Confederate navy, he
had to start from scratch. He assembled
a small armored fleet, hoping it might
offset the advantages of the U.S.
Navy’s larger wooden ships. He gambled
on winning the war at sea through a
combination of raids on Union
commerce and the use of ironclads
and ingeniously contrived torpedoes.Naval Developments
Occurring on the cusp of a revolution in naval warfare, the American Civil War spurred
a great wave of innovation and experimentation in the design of ships and weapons,
which included the use of mines, the first torpedo boats, and even submarines.
GRANT, SHERMAN, AND TOTAL WAR 1864another card to play: “torpedoes.” The
Confederacy’s secretive Torpedo Corps
and Submarine Battery Service
experimented with all kinds of these
“infernal machines.” Most exploded on
contact with a ship, but some were
detonated via insulated wires controlled
by agents hidden onshore. Torpedoes
sank or damaged 43 Union vessels in
all, making them the Confederacy’s
most effective defense against Union
naval superiority. Torpedoes were also
used in direct attacks. Fixed to the end
of a long underwater spar that
protruded forward from the bows of
specially designed boats, the torpedo
was rammed into the enemy ship. In
1863, General P. G. T. Beauregard,
commander of Charleston’s defenses,W
hen war broke out, the U.S.
Navy had fewer than 70
serviceable ships, while the
Confederates counted less than a dozen.
Yet “inequality of numbers,”
the Southern Secretary of the Navy,
Stephen Mallory, asserted, “may be
compensated by invulnerability.” He
was referring to the ironclads. He hoped
that they would prove so impervious to
enemy guns that a single one might
breach the Union blockade to attack and
burn New York City.Ironclads and mines
In the event, the South’s lack of
industrial resources forced Mallory to
choose the simplest ironclad designs. In
contrast, Lincoln’s stern-faced navy
secretary, Gideon Welles, harnessed
factories, foundries, and shipyards to
build technologically sophisticated
ironclads, 65 in all. Most ships were
refinements on the first Union ironclad,
the Monitor, launched in 1862, but wereBEFORE
By 1850, the age of sail was waning as
steam engines increasingly replaced ships
using wind and canvas.
FIRST IRONCLADS
The Crimean War (1853–56) augured the end
of the wooden hull for warships, as powerful
new rifled artillery and explosive shells
encouraged navies to protect their vessels with
iron armor. By 1861, the first steam-powered
ironclad warships, the French Gloire and
British Warrior, were roving the seas. The
first combat between ironclads was the
engagement, on March 9, 1862, between the
Union’s Monitor and the Confederacy’s Virginia
(or Merrimack) ❮❮ 94–95.
MINES AND SUBMARINES
Torpedoes—floating kegs of gunpowder also
known as mines—first appeared during the
American Revolution. They were deployed in large
numbers during the Crimean War.
Since the end of the 18th century, many
navies had shown a passing interest in building
submersible warships, but most experiments
were not promising. With the outbreak of the
Civil War, efforts were quickly renewed as both
Union and Confederate engineers raced to
overcome design challenges and develop the
first dependable and operationally
effective submarine.
NAVY SECRETARY 1812–73STEPHEN RUSSELL MALLORY
Underwater mine
A typical stationary “torpedo” was held in place a few
feet beneath the surface of the water, by cables
weighted to the bottom. Many torpedoes became
waterlogged, rendering them harmless.Confederate torpedo boat
The sleek torpedo boat CSS David was depicted by
an anonymous artist moored to a Charleston wharf.
At least half a dozen similar craft, called “Davids,”
were built in Charleston.longer, mounted with heavier guns,
and even had more than one turret.
Low-slung and formidable, they were
more versatile than any of their
Confederate counterparts. Mallory had