CSS Columbia
History
Confederate States
NameColumbia
Laid down1864
LaunchedMarch 1864
Commissioned1864
Decommissioned15 June 1865
FateCaptured by Union forces 18 February 1865; sold 10 October 1867
General characteristics
Length216 ft (66 m)
Beam51 ft 4 in (15.65 m)
Draft13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
PropulsionSteam engine
Armament6 guns

CSS Columbia was an ironclad steamer ram in the Confederate States Navy and later in the United States Navy.

As CSS Columbia

Columbia was built at Charleston, South Carolina in 1864 to a design by John L. Porter. She was launched in March 1864 and entered service later in that year. When the Union forces took possession of Charleston on 18 February 1865, they found Columbia near Fort Moultrie; she had run on a sunken wreck and been damaged on 12 January 1865. The ironclad already had her cannon and some armor plating removed; ship-worms were already at work boring into her wooden hull.

As USS Columbia

She was raised on 26 April and was towed by USS Vanderbilt to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she arrived on 25 May 1865. Columbia was drydocked on 5 June and repairs were begun, but on 15 June, she was decommissioned and placed in ordinary. Her hulk was later sold for scrapping on 10 October 1867.

References

  • Bisbee, Saxon T. (2018). Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-81731-986-1.
  • Canney, Donald L. (2015). The Confederate Steam Navy 1861-1865. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-4824-2.
  • Canney, Donald L. (1993). The Old Steam Navy. Vol. 2: The Ironclads, 1842–1885. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-586-8.
  • Koehler, R. B. & Sileo, Thomas (2008). "Question 40/43: Fates of Confederate Ironclads". Warship International. XLV (4): 276–277. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). Civil War Navies 1855–1883. The U.S. Navy Warship Series. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97870-X.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
  • Still, William N. Jr. (1985) [1971]. Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-454-3.
  • This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found Confederate service here and Union service here.
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