CSS ''Nashville'' was a brig-rigged, side-paddle-wheel passenger steamer that served with the Confederate Navy during the Civil War.

History

Originally a United States Mail Service ship, the USMS ''Nashville'' was built at Greenpoint,

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in 1853. Between 1853 and 1861 she was engaged in running between

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and Charleston, South Carolina. During the Battle of Fort Sumter, the USMS ''Nashville'' sailed into Charleston without flying the US national standard and was fired upon by the USRC ''Harriet Lane'' which marked the first shot of the naval war in the Civil War. The ''Nashville'' raised the American flag, and after the surrender of Sumter, the ''Nashville'' docked at Charleston. After the fall of Fort Sumter, the Confederates captured her at Charleston and fitted her out as a cruiser. Under the command of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Robert B. Pegram,

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, she ran the blockade on October 21, 1861, and headed across the

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, the first ship of war to fly the

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in English waters. On November 19, 1861, near the British Isles, she boarded and burned an American merchant ship, the ''Harvey Birch'', the first such action by a Confederate commerce raider in the North Atlantic during the war. ''Nashville'' returned to Beaufort, North Carolina on February 28, 1862, having captured two prizes worth

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66,000 during the cruise. In this interval she was sold for use as a blockade runner and renamed ''Thomas L. Wragg''. On November 5, 1862, she was commissioned as the

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Rattlesnake''. After she ran fast aground on the

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, the

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destroyed her with shell fire from 11-inch (279-mm) and 15-inch (381-mm) turret guns on February 28, 1863.

References

External links

Machinery from the C.S.S. Nashville
historical marker
Destruction of the C.S.S. Nashville
historical marker
Sinking of CSS Nashville
historical marker Cruisers of the Confederate States Navy Blockade runners of the Confederate States Navy Shipwrecks in rivers Ships built in Brooklyn 1853 ships Shipwrecks of the Georgia (U.S. state) coast Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Maritime incidents in February 1863 Captured ships Naval magazine explosions {{US-mil-ship-stub

History

See also

References

External links