CSS Louisiana

CSS Louisiana History

The CSS Louisiana was built by the Confederate States of America to deter the Union Navy trying to control the lower Mississippi River during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Both sides see control of the waters within and around the United States as a key factor in victory, especially in sustaining the battle on land.

As the Mississippi River proved to be of strategic importance to both sides, various attempts were made to gain control of its many waterways, although victory ultimately fell to Union troops as the Union captured New Orleans from the Union.

E. C. Murray directed the construction of the new ship, which was laid at a shipyard north of New Orleans in October 1861. However, the South lacked much of the industrial infrastructure of the North, and itself lacked natural resources, which forced builders to use untreated lumber in their construction in Louisiana (eventually leading to constant flooding problems during their short tenure).

All of this was exacerbated by the Confederate naval blockade, which made it nearly impossible for the Confederates to obtain much of the war material. To make matters worse, the construction of CSS Louisiana has been delayed by many other means, including strikes and a general shortage of skilled workers (workers already contracted with nearby CSS Mississippi).

Louisiana was finally completed in early 1862 and launched on February 6. On April 20, 1862, she was officially (albeit hastily) commissioned.

When completed, the CSS Louisiana features a typical armored iron design with a distinctive sloping superstructure that houses a pair of steam engines driving two helical impellers. The paddle wheels are placed in the center of the design in a straight line to help control steering via twin rudders in the stern. A turret structure with sloping sides and a flat top was placed at the center of the design, and primary armament consisted of a 2 x 7-inch (178 mm) Brook rifle gun. Combined with 4 x 8" (203mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns, 3 x 9" (228mm) and 7 x 32pdr guns - all in all, this is a well-armed ship capable of taking on wooden turrets and causing serious damage to the combined navy damage the ship. The guns are distributed throughout the design and are visible from the port, starboard, bow and stern porthole hatches.

The chimney for exhausting the engine was located in front of the frontmost paddle wheel, and an access port was added in front of the chimney. The bow features a traditional pointed design that can be used to ram unsuspecting enemy ships or to break through obstacles created by water if necessary.

Despite her great power, there are key limitations to Louisiana's design. As an iron ship, she was inherently heavy, and her engine was underpowered from the start. Visibility out of the artillery portholes is extremely limited (as is the slope and altitude), and shooting from a moving ship presents all sorts of natural challenges - especially for untrained crews. The paddle wheel is also quite flimsy, with the second downwind of the first, thus slowing down its overall potential in terms of performance. Furthermore, this configuration makes steering exceptionally difficult.

Working conditions - especially in the heat of the South - were abysmal, with the crew exposed to exhaust fumes and stale, humid air. Using untreated wood meant the turret was always in knee-deep water, as leaks became an obvious and ongoing problem.

CSS Louisiana went into action in April 1862 - albeit largely incomplete, lacking complete armor, complete crew and motorized propellers - to assist stationed at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip (Placket, Louisiana) District) of Allied defenders. These forts were vital to the rebel cause, protecting the foothills leading to New Orleans and providing a much-needed strategic buffer in the area. While her construction is still underway, Louisiana has no incentive to do so with the help of streamers and accompanying boats. Instead of risking her in an open position against Union artillery, the Confederate authorities docked her on the north side of the Mississippi, away from the fort, much to the dismay of the garrison commander.

Personnel aboard CSS Louisiana are expected to struggle under the pressure of the war, with renovation and dock workers still on board but lacking proper training. Therefore, the gunners of the nearby fort were replaced before the operation.

The Louisiana will be used as a stationary floating artillery battery.

Mortar fire pounded the Union heavily but still unresolved, prompting Union forces to bypass the fort entirely. CSS Louisiana continued to approach the Union warship and damaged the USS Brooklyn (at the time thought to be the USS Hartford). The backfire from the Union Navy ship simply bounced off the Louisiana's heavy armor, although the ship lost its captain and two crew members in the battle (victims whose positions were exposed during the attack). The Louisiana fired to starboard and bows as often as possible, while Union forces slid past the fort and eventually went out of range.

New Orleans is now officially under direct threat.

Unable to effectively counter the currents of the Mississippi under her own power, the Louisiana had little value other than direct defense of the fort. In the rebellion launched at Fort Jackson, neither fort ultimately surrendered to CSS Louisiana's commander with input or consent to federal authorities. In order not to let the ship fall into enemy hands, the commander's crew ordered the CSS Louisiana to catch fire and flee to the shore.

The fire cut off the line that brought them to the river bank, and the boat went downstream, still burning, to Fort St. Philip. Just then, the fire ignited their newsstand, causing a huge explosion, and the turret armor flew around. A resident of Fort St. Philip was reportedly killed in the blast.

The Battles of Fort Jackson and St. Philip, which spanned April 18-28, were seen as Union victories. The key to victory was simply bypassing the Confederate fortifications that and the CSS in Louisiana were marginalized from future battles.

The eventual fall of New Orleans into the hands of Union troops was both a strategic and psychological blow to the Union and prompted the aforementioned Fort Jackson mutiny and eventual surrender.

This ends the term of operation of CSS Louisiana.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing