CSS Tuskaloosa

From Tuskaloosa

CSS Tuscaloosa Ironclad. . .

Type: Confederate Ironclad Floating Battery (Albemarle)
Displacement: Not Recorded
Dimensions: 15ft X 34ft X 10ft 6in
Machinery: Single Screw
Top Speed: 3 knots
Crew: 120
Main Armament: one 6.4inch, three 32-pounder guns
Launched: February 7, 1863

Tuscaloosa was one of a quartet of ironclads ordered by the Confederate Navey and built at Selma, Alabama. One of the ships was never completed, but Tuscaloosa formed a pair with her sister Huntsville. The fourth vessel was Tennessee.

Tuscaloosa was launched at Selma, Ala., 7 February 1863. She was designed as a ram to mount four guns and to have the protection of 4-inch iron plating supplied by Schofield & Markham and Shelby Iron Co.

Engined before launching, Tuscaloosa proceeded under her own power to Mobile for completion. Under Commander C. H. McBlair, CSN, she served in the Mobile area until Mobile's capitulation on 12 April 1865. She served in the area of the siege of Fort Blakeley, Alabama. The Confederates sank her in the Spanish River 12 miles north of the city.

Siege of Fort Blakeley, Alabama

• E.R.S. Canby's forces, the XVI and XIII corps, moved along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, forcing the Confederates back into their defenses. Union forces then concentrated on Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley. By April 1, Union forces had enveloped Spanish Fort, thereby releasing more troops to focus on Fort Blakeley.
• Brig. Gen. St. John R. Liddell, with about 4,000 men, held out against the much larger Union force until Spanish Fort fell on April 8, allowing Canby to concentrate 16,000 men for the attack on April 9. Sheer numbers breached the Confederate earthworks compelling the Confederates to capitulate.
• The siege and capture of Fort Blakely was basically the last combined-force battle of the war. African-American forces played a major role in the successful Union assault.

The CSS Tuscaloosa, CSS Nashville, and CSS Morgan were positioned South West of Blakely.
Result(s): Union victory (Fort Blakeley surrendered.)
Location: Baldwin County
Campaign: Mobile Campaign (1865)
Date(s): April 2-9, 1865