USS Minnesota: Flagship of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron
Presenter:
John V. Quarstein
Director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center
About the lecture:
When New Orleans was captured by the Union, Mobile became the Confederacy’s most important blockade runner port on the Gulf of Mexico. While it was defended by masonry forts at the bay’s entrance, it still needed ironclads to block an enemy fleet from capturing the harbors. Because of Alabama’s natural resources, Selma, Montgomery, and Mobile became ironclad building centers. The first ironclad constructed, CSS Baltic, was poorly conceived, powered, and armored. Eventually its cladding would be used for armor. CSS Nashville. Two floating batteries, CSS Huntsville and CSS Tuscaloosa, were completed and five other ironclads were under construction. The most effective of these was the ram CSS Tennessee. It was considered one of the best ironclads built in the South with strong armor, a powerful battery, and adequate engines that could make 5 knots. Tennessee was still too slow and was the only available ironclad to contest Admiral David G. Farragut’s 5 August 1864 attack on Mobile Bay. The Confederate ram was overwhelmed and captured. In May 1865 all of the Alabama ironclads were surrendered.
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Image credit: CSS Tennessee. F. Muller, artist. Courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 83805-KN.