View source for CSS Charleston

{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image=CSS Charleston.jpg
 |image_caption=
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=
 |country=Confederate States
 |flag={{shipboxflag|Confederate States of America|naval}}
 |name=''Charleston''
 |namesake=[[Charleston, South Carolina]]
 |ordered=Fall 1862
 |awarded=
 |builder=[[James M. Eason]], Charleston
 |original_cost=
 |laid_down=December 1862
 |launched=1863
 |sponsor=
 |christened=
 |completed=
 |commissioned=September 1863
 |motto=
 |nickname=''Ladies' Gunboat''
 |fate=Destroyed to avoid capture, 17/18 February 1865
 |notes=
 |badge=
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |hide_header=
 |header_caption=
 |type=[[Casemate ironclad]]
 |displacement={{convert|600|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
 |tons_burthen=
 |length={{Convert|189|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
 |beam={{Convert|34|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship depth of hold={{Convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
 |draft={{Convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
 |power=
 |propulsion=1 shaft, 1 [[Marine steam engine|steam engine]]
 |speed={{convert|6|kn|lk=in|abbr=on}}
 |complement=150 officers and men
 |armor={{convert|4|in|0|abbr=on}}
 |armament=*2 × {{convert|9|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} [[smoothbore]] [[Dahlgren gun]]s 
           *4 × {{convert|7|in|abbr=on|0}} [[Muzzle-loading rifle|muzzle-loading]] [[Brooke rifle]]s
           *1 x Spar Torpedo
 |notes=
 }}
}}

'''CSS ''Charleston''''' was a [[casemate ironclad]] [[ram (ship)|ram]] built for the [[Confederate Navy]] (CSN) at [[Charleston, South Carolina]] during the [[American Civil War]]. Funded by the [[State of South Carolina]] as well as donations by patriotic women's associations in the city, she was turned over to the Confederate Navy and defended the city until advancing [[Union Army|Union]] troops that threatened Charleston caused her to be destroyed in early 1865 lest she be captured. Her wreck was [[Marine salvage|salvaged]] after the war and the remains have been obliterated by subsequent [[dredging]].

==Construction and description==
[[James M. Eason]] was awarded a contract by the State of South Carolina to build a larger ironclad at Charleston in November 1862 after he finished the casemate ram {{ship|CSS|Chicora}}. Funds were also contributed by the city's "Ladies' Gun-boat Association",<ref>Scharf, pp. 671–72</ref> which led to ''Charleston''{{'}}s nickname of the "Ladies' Gunboat". He began construction the next month and completed the ship in September 1863.<ref name=s9/>

''Charleston'' was {{convert|189|ft|m|1}} [[length overall|long overall]] and had a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|34|ft|m}}. Her [[Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#depth of hold|depth of hold]] was {{convert|14|ft|m|1}}<ref name=s9/> and she had a [[draft (hull)|draft]] {{Convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}}. The ship had a [[displacement (ship)|displacement]] of {{convert|600|LT|t|0}}. ''Charleston''{{'}}s propulsion system is unknown,<ref>Gaines, p. 143</ref> but her engine had a diameter of {{convert|36|in}} and her propeller was {{convert|8|ft|6|in|m|1}} in diameter.<ref name=s71/> At any rate, she was credited with a speed of {{convert|6|kn|lk=in}}. The ship was armed with two {{convert|9|in|mm|adj=on|0}} [[smoothbore]] guns<ref name=s9>Silverstone, p. 153</ref> at the ends of the ship,<ref name=l8>Luraghi, p. 278</ref> probably [[Dahlgren gun]]s,<ref>Olmstead, Turk & Tucker, pp. 243–44</ref> and four [[Muzzle-loading rifle|muzzle-loading]] [[Brooke rifle]]s on the broadside<ref name=l8/> that fired {{convert|90|-|110|lb|adj=on}} projectiles,<ref name=s71>Scharf, p. 671</ref> which would make them {{convert|7|in|adj=on|0}} guns<ref>Olmstead, Turk & Tucker, p. 126</ref> although their exact type is unknown.<ref>Still, pp. 82–83</ref> ''Charleston'' was also fitted with a [[wrought iron|wrought-iron]] [[naval ram|ram]]. The ship's armor was {{convert|4|in|0}} thick. All together, her ram and armor weighed {{convert|600|LT|t|0}}.<ref name=s71/> Her crew numbered 150 officers and enlisted men.<ref name=s9/>

==Service==
Once completed, ''Charleston'' served as the [[flagship]] of the CSN's [[Charleston Squadron]] together with the rams {{ship|CSS|Palmetto State||2}} and ''Chicora''. Her only [[captain (nautical)|captain]] was [[Commander]] [[Isaac N. Brown]]. The ship was set on fire and blown up with {{convert|10|LT|t|0}} of [[gunpowder]] in the [[Cooper River (South Carolina)|Cooper River]] on the night of 17/18 February 1865 to prevent her capture by the Union Army once the city was evacuated by the Confederates.<ref>Luraghi, pp. 289, 336–37, Gaines, p. 143</ref> The wreck was salvaged to a depth of {{convert|12|ft|m|1}} below low water by Benjamin Maillefort in 1872–73 and the site has been thoroughly dredged to deepen the channel, destroying any remains.<ref>Gaines, p. 144</ref> Its last known location was at {{coord|32|47|29|N|79|55|21|W|type:event|display=inline,title}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Siege of Charleston|url=http://www.numa.net/expeditions/siege-of-charleston/|publisher=[[National Underwater and Marine Agency]]|accessdate=12 December 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last1=Bisbee |first1=Saxon T. |title=Engines of Rebellion: Confederate Ironclads and Steam Engineering in the American Civil War |publisher=University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama |isbn=978-0-81731-986-1|date=2018}}
* {{cite book |last1=Canney |first1=Donald L. |title=The Confederate Steam Navy 1861-1865 |date=2015 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing|location=Atglen, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-7643-4824-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Gaines|first=W. Craig|title=Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks |year=2008 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press|location=Baton Rouge, Louisiana|isbn=978-0-8071-3274-6}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Koehler |first1=R. B.|last2=Sileo|first2=Thomas |title=Question 40/43: Fates of Confederate Ironclads |journal=Warship International |date=2008 |volume=XLV |issue=4 |pages=276–277 |issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Luraghi|first=Raimondo|title=A History of the Confederate Navy|year=1996 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-527-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofconfede0000lura}}
* {{cite book|last1=Olmstead|first1=Edwin|last2=Stark|first2=Wayne E.|last3=Tucker|first3=Spencer C.|year=1997|title=The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon|publisher=Museum Restoration Service|location=Alexandria Bay, New York|isbn=0-88855-012-X|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{Scharf-History}}
* {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Civil War Navies 1855–1883 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York|year=2006|series=The U.S. Navy Warship Series|isbn=0-415-97870-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984 |publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Still|first=William N. Jr.|title=Iron Afloat: The Story of the Confederate Armorclads|isbn=0-87249-454-3|orig-year=1971|year=1985|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|location=Columbia, South Carolina}}

{{CSN ironclads}}
{{1865 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charleston}}
[[Category:Ironclad warships of the Confederate States Navy]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1865]]
[[Category:1863 ships]]