USS Hatteras (1861-1863)USS Hatteras , a 1126-ton iron side-wheel gunboat, was built in 1861 at Wilmington, Delaware, as the civilian steamer Saint Marys . She was purchased by the Navy in September 1861 and commissioned a month later. Hatteras was initially assigned to the blockade of the Florida coast, where, in January 1862, she raided Cedar Keys, destroying facilities and seven schooners. Later in January, after being transferred to the Gulf of Mexico, she engaged CSS Mobile off Berwick, Louisiana. Over the next several months, Hatteras was very active against blockade runners, capturing several steamers and sailing vessels. On 11 January 1863, while off Galveston, Texas, she encountered the Confederate cruiser Alabama , which was masquerading as a British warship. After a short, vigorous action with her more heavily-armed opponent, USS Hatteras was sunk. 19th Century print, depicting the sinking of Hatteras by CSS Alabama , off Galveston, Texas, 11 January 1863. |
![]() Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy A tantalizing glimpse into the hardships endured by the naval leadership to build and recruit a fighting force. The seaman endured periods of boredom, punctuated by happy social times and terrifying bouts of battle horror ![]() Confederate Phoenix: The CSS Virginia The CSS Virginia of the Confederate States Navy destroyed two of the most formidable warships in the U.S. Navy. Suddenly, with this event, every wooden warship in every navy in the world became totally obsolete |
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![]() Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama In July 1862, the Confederate captain Raphael Semmes received orders to report to Liverpool, where he would take command of a secret new British-built steam warship. His mission: to prey on Union commercial vessels and undermine the North's ability to continue the war |
![]() The Hunt for the Albemarle: Anatomy of a Gunboat War The Confederate ironclad Albemarle was the key to the river wars in North Carolina. |
![]() Ironclad of the Roanoke: Gilbert Elliott's Albemarle The story of a Confederate Ironcald that was a powerful force until sunk by a Union Torpedo Boat after its brief stormy life. Ironic in the fact it was built in a Cornfield. Confederate Ingenunity at it finest! |
![]() Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy : The Journal and Letters of John M. Brooke Information about the Confederate Navy's effort to supply its fledgling forces, the wartime diaries and letters of John M. Brooke tell the neglected story of the Confederate naval ordnance office, its innovations, and its strategic vision. |
![]() Halls of Honor The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War |
![]() Raise The Alabama She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France |
![]() The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one |
![]() Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor |
Sources:
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