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CSS Columbia
Career Confederate States Naval Ensign after May 26 1863 US flag 36 stars
Name: CSS/USS Columbia
Laid down: 1864
Launched: March 1864
Commissioned: 1864
Decommissioned: 15 June 1865
Fate: Captured by Union forces 18 February 1865; sold 10 October 1867
General characteristics
Length: 216 ft (66 m)
Beam: 51 ft 4 in (15.65 m)
Draft: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion: Steam engine
Armament: 6 guns

CSS Columbia was an ironclad steamer ram in the Confederate States Navy and later in the United States Navy.

As CSS Columbia[]

Columbia was built at Charleston, South Carolina in 1864 to a design by John L. Porter. She was launched in March 1864 and entered service later in that year. When the Union forces took possession of Charleston on 18 February 1865, they found Columbia near Fort Moultrie; she had run on a sunken wreck and been damaged on 12 January 1865. The ship already had her guns and some armor plating removed and ship-worms were already at work.

As USS Columbia[]

She was raised on 26 April and was towed by USS Vanderbilt to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she arrived 25 May 1865. Columbia was drydocked on 5 June and repairs were begun, but on 15 June, she was decommissioned and placed in ordinary. Her hulk was sold 10 October 1867.

See also[]

References[]

  • Canney, Donald L. (1993). The Old Steam Navy: The Ironclads, 1842–1885. 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-586-8. 
  • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4. 
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). Civil War Navies 1855–1883. The U.S. Navy Warship Series. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97870-X. 
  • Still, William N., Jr. (1985). Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads (Reprint of the 1971 ed.). Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-454-3. 
  • This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found Confederate service here and Union service here.
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at CSS Columbia and the edit history here.
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