Ships of the Civil War

The Civil War may be mainly remembered for its infamous land battles, such as Gettysburg, Manassas, and Shiloh, but its naval engagements announced a new kind of naval warfare with the first-time use of ironclads, submarines and torpedoes, and the introduction of newer and more powerful naval artillery. The conflict saw the use of paddle-driven river boats, steam warships, ram ships, sloops, cruisers, river steamers converted into ironclads, and the development of new ships such as low-lying monitors.

Arranged by type of ship, Ships of the Civil War provides concise coverage of some of the most famous warships of the era, including: the seminal duel between the ironclads CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor; the Union victory at Mobile Bay, where the CSS Tennessee was the sole surviving Confederate ship; the Confederate raider Alabama’s demise off the coast of France under the guns of the USS Kearsarge; and one of the first successful actions by a submarine, when CSS Hunley exploded a mine beneath the Federal gunboat, USS Housatonic. The book also includes blockade runners, such as A.D. Vance and Hope; raiders, such as CSS Sumter and USS Quaker City; and iron cruisers, like the CSS Tallahassee, who spectacularly raided northern waters, destroying dozens of Federal merchantmen in the process.

Filled with colorful artworks, expertly-written background, and useful specifications of more than 110 fighting ships of the era, Ships of the Civil War is a handy guide to an often ignored aspect of the great struggle between North and South.