 CSSNashville | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Confederate States | |
| Name | Nashville |
| Builder | William Collyer (Greenpoint, NY) |
| Launched | 22 Sep 1853 |
| Christened | SSNashville |
| Commissioned | (CSN): Oct 1861–Mar 1862 |
| Maiden voyage | 4 Jan 1854 |
| In service | 4 Jan 1854–28 Feb 1863 |
| Renamed |
|
| Fate | Sunk byUSN, 28 February 1863 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 1,221long tons (1,241 t) |
| Length | 215 ft 6 in (65.68 m) |
| Beam | 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m) |
| Draft | 21 ft 9 in (6.63 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails and steam engine |
| Complement | 40 officers and men |
| Armament | 2 × 12-pounder (5 kg) cannons |
CSSNashville was abrig-rigged, side-paddle-wheel passengersteamer that served with the Confederate Navy during the Civil War.
Originally a United States Mail Service ship, the USMSNashville was built atGreenpoint,Brooklyn in 1853. Between 1853 and 1861 she was engaged in running betweenNew York City andCharleston, South Carolina. During theBattle of Fort Sumter, the USMSNashville sailed into Charleston without flying the US national standard and was fired upon by theUSRCHarriet Lane which marked the first shot of the naval war in the Civil War. TheNashville raised the American flag, and after the surrender of Sumter, theNashville docked at Charleston.
After the fall of Fort Sumter, theConfederates captured her at Charleston and fitted her out as acruiser. Under the command ofLieutenantRobert B. Pegram,CSN, she ran the blockade on October 21, 1861, and headed across theAtlantic toSouthampton,England, the first ship of war to fly theConfederate flag in English waters. On November 19, 1861, near the British Isles, she boarded and burned an American merchant ship, theHarvey Birch, the first such action by a Confederate commerce raider in the North Atlantic during the war.[1]
Nashville returned toBeaufort, North Carolina on February 28, 1862, having captured two prizes worthUS$66,000 during the cruise. In this interval she was sold for use as ablockade runner and renamedThomas L. Wragg.
On November 5, 1862, she was commissioned as theprivateerRattlesnake. After she ran fast aground on theOgeechee River,Georgia, themonitorUSS Montauk destroyed her with shell fire from 11-inch (279-mm) and 15-inch (381-mm) turret guns on February 28, 1863.[2]
British writer Francis Warrington Dawson (born Austin John Reeks), then a youth of 21, joined the crew of theNashville in 1862 in order to make passage from Britain to the Confederacy, with whose cause he sympathized.[3] He later wrote a book about his experience as an expatriate Briton in the Confederacy,Reminiscences of Confederate Service, 1861-1865, the first seven chapters of which detail his observations and experiences aboard theNashville.[4]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
31°53′24″N81°13′06″W / 31.8899°N 81.2184°W /31.8899; -81.2184
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