CSS Manassas

CSS ''Manassas'', formerly the steam icebreaker ''Enoch Train'', was built in 1855 by James O. Curtis as a twin-screw towboat at Medford, Massachusetts. A New Orleans commission merchant, Captain John A. Stevenson, acquired her for use as a privateer after she was captured by another privateer (later gunboat) . Her fitting out as ''Manassas'' was completed at Algiers, Louisiana; her conversion to a ram of a radically modern design made her the first ironclad ship built for the Confederacy.

Description

Covered with iron plating, her above-water hull was reshaped into a curved "turtle-back" form; at its lowest when fully loaded, the hull projected only feet above the waterline, not counting her smokestacks (surviving accounts and period illustrations vary showing ''Manassas'' was equipped with either a single or two side-by-side smokestacks, possibly slanted back at a rakish angle). The convex shape of her iron-plated topside was intended to cause cannon shot to glance off harmlessly. She was in length, overall, and had a hull beam and draught. Her bow was fitted with a pointed iron ram to stave holes in Union vessels, and she also carried a forward-firing cannon behind a single gun port with an armored shutter. Her low profile made her a difficult target, while her curved armor iron plate protected her against all but the most well-directed Union cannon fire. Lying low in the water, she looked like a floating cigar or egg and was described by Union intelligence as a "hellish machine."

Service history

Commissioned as a Confederate privateer on 12 September 1861, ''Manassas'' was seized soon afterwards by Flag Officer George N. Hollins, CSN, for use in the lower Mississippi River. With Lieutenant A. F. Warley, CSN, in command, she participated in Flag Officer Hollins' surprise attack on the Federal blockading squadron at Head of Passes on 12 October 1861, the action being known as the Battle of the Head of Passes. In the action ''Manassas'' rammed , but the impact was partly absorbed by a coal barge tied alongside. ''Manassas'', however, suffered the loss of her iron prow and smokestack(s) and had one of her two engines unseated from its mounts, temporarily putting it out of commission. She managed to retire under heavy fire from and ''Richmond'', whose shells glanced off her armor. Two months after this engagement, ''Manassas'' was purchased for direct ownership and re-commissioned in the CSN by the Confederate Government.

Under Lieutenant Warley, CSS ''Manassas'' joined the force of Captain John K. Mitchell, CSN, commanding Confederate naval forces in the lower Mississippi. She participated in the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, during which Commodore David Farragut, USN, on his way to New Orleans, ran his fleet past the Confederate forts of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip. In the action ''Manassas'' attempted to ram , which turned in time to avoid the heavy blow and delivered a full broadside at close range. ''Manassas'' then ran into more murderous fire from the whole line of the Union fleet. She then charged and delivered a long glancing blow to her hull, also firing her single cannon as she rammed. Next she rammed , again firing her cannon, injuring her deeply, but not fatally.

After this action ''Manassas'' followed the Union fleet quietly for a while, but as she drew closer ''Mississippi'' furiously turned on her and made an attempt to ram the ironclad. ''Manassas'' managed to dodge the blow but ran aground in the process. Her crew managed to escape as ''Mississippi'' poured heavy broadsides into the stranded Confederate ram. Now on fire, ''Manassas'' slipped off the bank and drifted down the river past the Union mortar flotilla. Commander David Dixon Porter, USN, in command of the mortar boats, tried to save her as an engineering curiosity, but ''Manassas'' exploded and immediately plunged under water, a total loss.

Years after the war, in the book ''Battles and Leaders of the Civil War'', there was a claim that a ''Manassas'' crewman was knocked off the ironclad by a Union sailor; however Lieutenant Warley reported no casualties among his ''Manassas'' crew in an official report dated 13 August 1863.ORN 1, 18, p. 337
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References

Notes

;Abbreviations used in these notes:
:Official atlas: ''Atlas to accompany the official records of the Union and Confederate armies.''
:ORA (Official records, armies): ''War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies.''
:ORN (Official records, navies): ''Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.''

Bibliography

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Manassas
Ironclad warships of the Confederate States Navy
Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River
Shipwrecks of the American Civil War
Naval magazine explosions
Louisiana in the American Civil War
Ships built in Medford, Massachusetts
Tugboats
Steamboats of the United States
1855 ships
Maritime incidents in April 1862