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USS Atlanta (1861)
Encyclopedia
The first Atlanta was a casemate southern ironclad, converted from a Scottish-built blockade runner serving in the Confederate Navy. She was later captured in battle and then served in the Union Navy
for the duration of the Civil War.
Atlanta was built in Glasgow
, Scotland
by James and George Thompson at the Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard and was completed as the Fingal early in 1861. She briefly operated between Glasgow and other ports in Scotland for Hutcheson's West Highland Service.
was sinking deeper and deeper into the secession crisis
. Soon after the Southern attack upon Fort Sumter
plunged the nation into war in mid-April 1861, the Confederate
Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory
, sent James Dunwoody Bulloch to England
to buy the warships, ordnance
, and widely varied supplies needed by the South's fledgling navy. After reaching Liverpool
on 4 June, Bulloch—a former naval officer who had resigned his commission as a lieutenant in the United States Navy
on 5 October 1854—quickly arranged for the construction of two fast and powerful cruisers to prey upon Union shipping. He also purchased a large quantity of naval supplies. Next—realizing that he must arrange for a steady flow of new funds before he could go much farther with his purchasing program and also prompted by the fact that the materiel of war that he had already acquired would be useless to the Confederate cause as long as it remained in England—decided to buy a steamship, to fill it with the ordnance that he and an agent of the Southern War Department had accumulated, and to sail in her to America.
To carry out this plan, the enterprising Southern naval agent chartered Fingal with an option to buy her upon a moment's notice if circumstances should arise which made such a move seem to be advisable. Under this arrangement, the ship would appear to be a British vessel under the command of a certified English master while she would actually be completely under Bulloch's control. Thus, Fingal would enjoy the protection of neutral English colors; yet, in the event she encountered an overinquisitive but none too powerful Union blockader, the English commanding officer might exercise his power of attorney as the agent of the steamer's owner and sign her over to the Confederate Government
. In this way, Fingal, under Bulloch's command, could fight for her freedom without compromising British neutrality.
In an attempt to avoid suspicious eyes, the Southern arms were carried by rail and by the coastal steamer Colletis from the vicinity of London to Greenock, Scotland, where Fingal was moored. When the prospective blockade runner was fully loaded, she got underway on the morning of 10 October; moved down the Firth of Clyde; transited the North Channel; and proceeded south through the Irish Sea
to Holyhead, Wales, where Bulloch and other Confederate officials and passengers awaited. On the night of the 14th, as she was slowly rounding the breakwater shielding that port, Fingal suddenly came upon unlighted brig Siccardi, slowly swinging at anchor. Although Fingal barely had steerage way and despite the fact that she quickly reversed her engines, she collided with the dark sailing ship. The steamer's sharp bow pierced Siccardis starboard quarter, and the brig went down before a boat could be lowered.
While Fingal's boats were carrying out rescue operations, Bulloch and the passengers embarked in the steamer. Bulloch sent a letter ashore to request that Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm and Co.—Confederate financial agents in England—settle damages with the brig's owners. Then, lest Fingal be held up by an investigation of the accident which might well bring his whole project to naught, Bulloch ordered the steamer to get underway immediately. She headed for the Azores and replenished her water supply at Praia on the island of Terceira. When the ship reached Bermuda
on 2 November, she found CSS Nashville
in port; and that Confederate side-wheel cruiser supplied her with coal and a pilot familiar with ". . . Savannah and the inlets to the southward . . . ." While Fingal was at Bermuda
preparing for a dash to the Confederate coast, the United States consul, suspicious of her purpose, attempted in vain to persuade her crew to leave the ship.
On the afternoon of the 7th, Fingal, cleared for Nassau
in the Bahamas, got underway again. Soon after she left port, Bulloch informed the crew that the steamer's real destination was Savannah, Georgia
; but he offered to take anyone who objected to the plan to Nassau. However, all agreed to join in the effort to run the Union blockade; and the ship headed for the Georgia coast. Her two 4½-inch rifled guns were then mounted in her forward gangway ports, and her two breech loading 2½-inch boat guns were put in place on her quarterdeck. The weather was clear as she approached the entrance to Wassaw Sound
on the night of 11 and 12 November; but, in the wee hours of the morning, a heavy fog settled over the coastal waters and screened the ship from Union eyes, enabling her to slip safely into the Savannah estuary.
The cargo which she brought to the munitions-hungry South consisted of 14,000 Enfield rifles, 1,000,000 cartridges, 2,000,000 percussion caps, 3,000 cavalry sabers, 1,000 short rifles with cutlass bayonets, 1,000 rounds per rifle, her own ordnance, 400 barrels of coarse cannon powder, medical supplies, much military clothing, and a large quantity of cloth for sewing still more uniforms. Recalling the voyage after the war, Bulloch proudly stated that "No single ship ever took into the Confederacy a cargo so entirely composed of military and naval supplies ..." and every bit of it was desperately needed by Southern forces.
While Fingal was discharging her most welcome cargo, Bulloch went to Richmond
to confer with Secretary of the Navy Mallory and other Confederate leaders seeking approval of what he had done and what he intended to do. His plans called for him next to return to his ship, to fill her with cotton and naval stores, then to escape through the blockade to sea, and finally to steam on to England.
Bulloch returned to Savannah on 23 November heartened by Mallory's approval of his past performance and of his projected course of action, and he promptly went to work to obtain a cargo of cotton and rosin for Fingal's outward voyage. However, the very next day, the first of a series of events occurred that would keep Fingal in port and ultimately would make her useless to the South.
Optimistic because of his great victory at Port Royal, South Carolina
, earlier in the month, Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Pont—the commanding officer of the newly established South Atlantic Blockading Squadron—ordered a Union naval force to waters off Savannah. On the 24th, in response to Du Font's instructions, Comdr. John Rodgers led a party of Union sailors and marines ashore on Tybee Island, which controlled the mouth of the Savannah River
, closing to Fingal that avenue of escape. The next day, Bulloch wrote Mallory reporting this development, explaining that "the only egress left for Fingal is through Warsaw [sic] Inlet . . ."and warning that". . . it can scarcely be supposed that the enemy will permit it to remain open many days . . . ."
Yet, despite the urgency of loading the steamer and preparing her for sea, other pressing demands upon Southern railroads delayed the arrival of her coal and cargo. Thus, she was not ready to sail until 20 December; and, by that time, Union blockaders had sealed off Wassaw Sound, ending the steamer's last chance to reach the Atlantic.
Slow to abandon hope that changed conditions might yet enable him to slip out to sea, Bulloch remained on board the steamer until mid-January 1862. Then, yielding to the inevitable and prodded by pressing business abroad, he turned her over to Lt. George T. Sinclair, CSN, so that he might proceed to England independently and resume his duties there.
Under Sinclair, Fingal for a time continued to seek an opportunity to dash out to sea; but this hope was abandoned before spring; and the ship was taken into the Confederate Navy. She was stripped to her deck; covered with a slanted, armored roof, flat at the center; and fitted with a sharp reinforced-steel bow which could be used to pierce the hulls of wooden enemy vessels. The contract for converting her into an ironclad ram was awarded to the Tift brothers, Nelson and Asa F.; and her metamorphosis— financed largely by contributions from the ladies of Savannah— was completed during the summer. The new warship was renamed Atlanta.
On 31 July, Atlanta—under the command of Lt. Charles H. McBlair, CSN—steamed down the Savannah River toward Fort Pulaski to a point where she could be seen from Union blockaders, but she soon retired above the obstructions. Efforts were then made to correct her defects but with poor results.
In January 1863, Flag Officer Josiah Tattnall
—who then commanded the naval defenses of Georgia
and, although residing ashore, flew his flag in Atlanta—felt pressure from Mallory to engage Northern naval forces. The Confederate Secretary of the Navy and other officials in Richmond were highly impressed by the performance of Virginia—the former screw frigate Merrimack
rebuilt as an ironclad ram—in Hampton Roads
the previous March and hoped that Atlanta could boost Southern morale by repeating Virginia' s, victory over wooden-hulled Union warships. Accordingly, Tattnall made plans to have Atlanta descend the Savannah. However, obstructions blocking the channel leading to sea prevented Tattnall from launching the operation. In March, the disappointed and frustrated Mallory reacted by relieving Tattnall from the command afloat and later placed Lieutenant William A. Webb
, CSN, in command of Atlanta, leaving no doubt that he expected great accomplishments from the ironclad ram in the near future.
On 10 June 1863, Rear Admiral Du Pont—sensing that Atlanta was about to descend the Wilmington River
for a foray into Wassaw Sound and remembering that Monitor
had ended Virginia' s destructive rampage—ordered monitors USS Weehawken
and USS Nahant
to enter Wassaw Sound to stop the Southern ironclad ram's attack, should she make one, and to prevent her escape. Captain John Rodgers
in Weehawken had overall command of this Union force.
Five days later, in the early evening of the 15th, Atlanta got underway and passed over the lower obstructions in the Wilmington River to get into position for a strike at the Union forces in Wassaw Sound. Webb dropped anchor at 8:00 p.m. and spent the remainder of the night coaling. The next evening ". . . about dark . . .," Webb later reported, he ". . . proceeded down the river to a point of land which would place me in 6 or 7 miles of the monitors, at the same time concealing the ship from their view, ready to move on them at early dawn the next morning."
Atlanta, accompanied by wooden steamers CSS Isondiga
and CSS Resolute
, got underway before daylight on the 17th. A percussion torpedo was fitted to a long spar projecting forward from the ram's bow, "which," Webb wrote, "I knew should do its work to my entire satisfaction, should I but be able to touch the Weehawken . . . ." Atlanta grounded coming into the channel, was gotten off, but repeatedly failed to obey her helm and ran hard aground again. Weehawken poured five shots from her heavy guns into the Confederate ram, and Nahant moved into attacking position. With two of his gun crews out of action, with two of three pilots severely injured, and with his ship stranded and helpless, Webb was compelled to surrender to prevent further futile loss of life. His two wooden escorts had returned upriver without engaging.
Captain Rodgers reported, "The Atlanta was found to have mounted two 6-inch and two 7-inch rifles, the 6-inch broadside, the 7-inch working on a pivot either as broadside or bow and stern guns. There is a large supply of ammunition for these guns and other stores, said to be of great value by some of the officers of the vessel." At the time of capture, 21 officers and 124 men, including marines were on board.
During most of her career under Union colors, Atlanta was stationed up the James River
helping other Northern warships support General Grant's
operations against Richmond. Under the command of Acting Lieutenant Thomas J. Woodward, her main service was to guard against a foray from the Confederate capital of the small fleet of Southern warships. On 21 May 1864, she and the schooner-rigged screw steamer Dawn shelled Confederate cavalry which was attacking Fort Powhatan on the James. Their gunfire broke up the assault and dispersed the Southern troopers.
After the collapse of the Confederacy, Atlanta steamed north to Philadelphia where she was decommissioned on 21 June 1865. She was sold at auction at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to Sam Ward on 4 May 1869. Haiti purchased Atlanta for $160,000 in gold, but while sailing to the country in December 1869, she sank off Cape Hatteras
.
Union Navy
The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
for the duration of the Civil War.
Atlanta was built in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
by James and George Thompson at the Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard and was completed as the Fingal early in 1861. She briefly operated between Glasgow and other ports in Scotland for Hutcheson's West Highland Service.
As Fingal
Just as the Fingal was beginning her career as a merchantman, on the other side of the Atlantic, the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was sinking deeper and deeper into the secession crisis
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Soon after the Southern attack upon Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
plunged the nation into war in mid-April 1861, the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory
Stephen Mallory
Stephen Russell Mallory served in the United States Senate as, Senator from Florida from 1850 to the secession of his home state and the outbreak of the American Civil War. For much of that period, he was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs...
, sent James Dunwoody Bulloch to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to buy the warships, ordnance
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
, and widely varied supplies needed by the South's fledgling navy. After reaching Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
on 4 June, Bulloch—a former naval officer who had resigned his commission as a lieutenant in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
on 5 October 1854—quickly arranged for the construction of two fast and powerful cruisers to prey upon Union shipping. He also purchased a large quantity of naval supplies. Next—realizing that he must arrange for a steady flow of new funds before he could go much farther with his purchasing program and also prompted by the fact that the materiel of war that he had already acquired would be useless to the Confederate cause as long as it remained in England—decided to buy a steamship, to fill it with the ordnance that he and an agent of the Southern War Department had accumulated, and to sail in her to America.
To carry out this plan, the enterprising Southern naval agent chartered Fingal with an option to buy her upon a moment's notice if circumstances should arise which made such a move seem to be advisable. Under this arrangement, the ship would appear to be a British vessel under the command of a certified English master while she would actually be completely under Bulloch's control. Thus, Fingal would enjoy the protection of neutral English colors; yet, in the event she encountered an overinquisitive but none too powerful Union blockader, the English commanding officer might exercise his power of attorney as the agent of the steamer's owner and sign her over to the Confederate Government
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. In this way, Fingal, under Bulloch's command, could fight for her freedom without compromising British neutrality.
In an attempt to avoid suspicious eyes, the Southern arms were carried by rail and by the coastal steamer Colletis from the vicinity of London to Greenock, Scotland, where Fingal was moored. When the prospective blockade runner was fully loaded, she got underway on the morning of 10 October; moved down the Firth of Clyde; transited the North Channel; and proceeded south through the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
to Holyhead, Wales, where Bulloch and other Confederate officials and passengers awaited. On the night of the 14th, as she was slowly rounding the breakwater shielding that port, Fingal suddenly came upon unlighted brig Siccardi, slowly swinging at anchor. Although Fingal barely had steerage way and despite the fact that she quickly reversed her engines, she collided with the dark sailing ship. The steamer's sharp bow pierced Siccardis starboard quarter, and the brig went down before a boat could be lowered.
While Fingal's boats were carrying out rescue operations, Bulloch and the passengers embarked in the steamer. Bulloch sent a letter ashore to request that Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm and Co.—Confederate financial agents in England—settle damages with the brig's owners. Then, lest Fingal be held up by an investigation of the accident which might well bring his whole project to naught, Bulloch ordered the steamer to get underway immediately. She headed for the Azores and replenished her water supply at Praia on the island of Terceira. When the ship reached Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
on 2 November, she found CSS Nashville
CSS Nashville (1861)
Originally a United States Mail Service ship, the USMS Nashville, was a brig-rigged, side-paddle-wheel passenger steamer built at Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 1853. Between 1853 and 1861 she was engaged in running between New York City and Charleston, South Carolina...
in port; and that Confederate side-wheel cruiser supplied her with coal and a pilot familiar with ". . . Savannah and the inlets to the southward . . . ." While Fingal was at Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
preparing for a dash to the Confederate coast, the United States consul, suspicious of her purpose, attempted in vain to persuade her crew to leave the ship.
On the afternoon of the 7th, Fingal, cleared for Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
in the Bahamas, got underway again. Soon after she left port, Bulloch informed the crew that the steamer's real destination was Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
; but he offered to take anyone who objected to the plan to Nassau. However, all agreed to join in the effort to run the Union blockade; and the ship headed for the Georgia coast. Her two 4½-inch rifled guns were then mounted in her forward gangway ports, and her two breech loading 2½-inch boat guns were put in place on her quarterdeck. The weather was clear as she approached the entrance to Wassaw Sound
Wassaw Sound
Wassaw Sound is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Georgia, United States near Savannah where which the Wilmington River flows.-American Civil War naval battle:...
on the night of 11 and 12 November; but, in the wee hours of the morning, a heavy fog settled over the coastal waters and screened the ship from Union eyes, enabling her to slip safely into the Savannah estuary.
The cargo which she brought to the munitions-hungry South consisted of 14,000 Enfield rifles, 1,000,000 cartridges, 2,000,000 percussion caps, 3,000 cavalry sabers, 1,000 short rifles with cutlass bayonets, 1,000 rounds per rifle, her own ordnance, 400 barrels of coarse cannon powder, medical supplies, much military clothing, and a large quantity of cloth for sewing still more uniforms. Recalling the voyage after the war, Bulloch proudly stated that "No single ship ever took into the Confederacy a cargo so entirely composed of military and naval supplies ..." and every bit of it was desperately needed by Southern forces.
While Fingal was discharging her most welcome cargo, Bulloch went to Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
to confer with Secretary of the Navy Mallory and other Confederate leaders seeking approval of what he had done and what he intended to do. His plans called for him next to return to his ship, to fill her with cotton and naval stores, then to escape through the blockade to sea, and finally to steam on to England.
Bulloch returned to Savannah on 23 November heartened by Mallory's approval of his past performance and of his projected course of action, and he promptly went to work to obtain a cargo of cotton and rosin for Fingal's outward voyage. However, the very next day, the first of a series of events occurred that would keep Fingal in port and ultimately would make her useless to the South.
Optimistic because of his great victory at Port Royal, South Carolina
Battle of Port Royal
The Battle of Port Royal was one of the earliest amphibious operations of the American Civil War, in which a United States Navy fleet and United States Army expeditionary force captured Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, between Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina, on November 7, 1861...
, earlier in the month, Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Pont—the commanding officer of the newly established South Atlantic Blockading Squadron—ordered a Union naval force to waters off Savannah. On the 24th, in response to Du Font's instructions, Comdr. John Rodgers led a party of Union sailors and marines ashore on Tybee Island, which controlled the mouth of the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
, closing to Fingal that avenue of escape. The next day, Bulloch wrote Mallory reporting this development, explaining that "the only egress left for Fingal is through Warsaw [sic] Inlet . . ."and warning that". . . it can scarcely be supposed that the enemy will permit it to remain open many days . . . ."
Yet, despite the urgency of loading the steamer and preparing her for sea, other pressing demands upon Southern railroads delayed the arrival of her coal and cargo. Thus, she was not ready to sail until 20 December; and, by that time, Union blockaders had sealed off Wassaw Sound, ending the steamer's last chance to reach the Atlantic.
Slow to abandon hope that changed conditions might yet enable him to slip out to sea, Bulloch remained on board the steamer until mid-January 1862. Then, yielding to the inevitable and prodded by pressing business abroad, he turned her over to Lt. George T. Sinclair, CSN, so that he might proceed to England independently and resume his duties there.
Under Sinclair, Fingal for a time continued to seek an opportunity to dash out to sea; but this hope was abandoned before spring; and the ship was taken into the Confederate Navy. She was stripped to her deck; covered with a slanted, armored roof, flat at the center; and fitted with a sharp reinforced-steel bow which could be used to pierce the hulls of wooden enemy vessels. The contract for converting her into an ironclad ram was awarded to the Tift brothers, Nelson and Asa F.; and her metamorphosis— financed largely by contributions from the ladies of Savannah— was completed during the summer. The new warship was renamed Atlanta.
As Atlanta
However, in her new configuration as a fighting ship, Atlanta suffered from several serious shortcomings. Her new armor and ordnance increased her draft to almost 16 feet, making it difficult for her to operate in the inland waters approaching Savannah. Moreover, her modifications made her extremely slow to respond to her helm and reduced her speed from 13 to 10 knots. She also leaked significantly, and her armored roof all but eliminated circulation of air, turning her into a humid oven during hot weather.On 31 July, Atlanta—under the command of Lt. Charles H. McBlair, CSN—steamed down the Savannah River toward Fort Pulaski to a point where she could be seen from Union blockaders, but she soon retired above the obstructions. Efforts were then made to correct her defects but with poor results.
In January 1863, Flag Officer Josiah Tattnall
Josiah Tattnall
Commodore Josiah Tattnall, Jr. was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812, the Second Barbary War, and the Mexican-American War. He later served in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War....
—who then commanded the naval defenses of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and, although residing ashore, flew his flag in Atlanta—felt pressure from Mallory to engage Northern naval forces. The Confederate Secretary of the Navy and other officials in Richmond were highly impressed by the performance of Virginia—the former screw frigate Merrimack
USS Merrimack (1855)
USS Merrimack was a frigate and sailing vessel of the United States Navy, best known as the hull upon which the ironclad warship, CSS Virginia was constructed during the American Civil War...
rebuilt as an ironclad ram—in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
the previous March and hoped that Atlanta could boost Southern morale by repeating Virginia
William A. Webb
William A. Webb was an American sailor and Mexican-American War veteran who resigned his United States Navy commission after more than 20 years of service to join the Confederate States Navy in the American Civil War...
, CSN, in command of Atlanta, leaving no doubt that he expected great accomplishments from the ironclad ram in the near future.
On 10 June 1863, Rear Admiral Du Pont—sensing that Atlanta was about to descend the Wilmington River
Wilmington River (Georgia)
The Wilmington River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It flows through Chatham County along the east side of the city of Savannah. At its north end, it connects with the Savannah River, then travels southwest past Savannah, then turns southeast and ends in Wassaw Sound, an arm of...
for a foray into Wassaw Sound and remembering that Monitor
USS Monitor
USS Monitor was the first ironclad warship commissioned by the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She is most famous for her participation in the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, the first-ever battle fought between two ironclads...
had ended Virginia
USS Weehawken (1862)
The first USS Weehawken was a Passaic-class ironclad monitor in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.Weehawken was launched on 5 November 1862 at Jersey City, New Jersey by Zeno Secor & Company; sponsored by Ms. Nellie Cornstock; and commissioned on 18 January 1863, Captain John...
and USS Nahant
USS Nahant (1862)
The first USS Nahant was a Passaic-class ironclad monitor of the United States Navy that saw service in the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War....
to enter Wassaw Sound to stop the Southern ironclad ram's attack, should she make one, and to prevent her escape. Captain John Rodgers
John Rodgers (naval officer, Civil War)
John Rodgers was an admiral in the United States Navy.-Early life and career:Rodgers, a son of Commodore John Rodgers, was born near Havre de Grace, Maryland. He received his appointment as a Midshipman in the Navy on 18 April 1828...
in Weehawken had overall command of this Union force.
Five days later, in the early evening of the 15th, Atlanta got underway and passed over the lower obstructions in the Wilmington River to get into position for a strike at the Union forces in Wassaw Sound. Webb dropped anchor at 8:00 p.m. and spent the remainder of the night coaling. The next evening ". . . about dark . . .," Webb later reported, he ". . . proceeded down the river to a point of land which would place me in 6 or 7 miles of the monitors, at the same time concealing the ship from their view, ready to move on them at early dawn the next morning."
Atlanta, accompanied by wooden steamers CSS Isondiga
CSS Isondiga
CSS Isondiga was a small wooden gunboat without masts that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.Isondiga operated in waters around Savannah, Georgia, and in Saint Augustine Creek, Florida, from April 1863 to December 1864, Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard commanding...
and CSS Resolute
CSS Resolute
CSS Resolute was a tugboat built in 1858 at Savannah Georgia as the Ajax which served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War....
, got underway before daylight on the 17th. A percussion torpedo was fitted to a long spar projecting forward from the ram's bow, "which," Webb wrote, "I knew should do its work to my entire satisfaction, should I but be able to touch the Weehawken . . . ." Atlanta grounded coming into the channel, was gotten off, but repeatedly failed to obey her helm and ran hard aground again. Weehawken poured five shots from her heavy guns into the Confederate ram, and Nahant moved into attacking position. With two of his gun crews out of action, with two of three pilots severely injured, and with his ship stranded and helpless, Webb was compelled to surrender to prevent further futile loss of life. His two wooden escorts had returned upriver without engaging.
Captain Rodgers reported, "The Atlanta was found to have mounted two 6-inch and two 7-inch rifles, the 6-inch broadside, the 7-inch working on a pivot either as broadside or bow and stern guns. There is a large supply of ammunition for these guns and other stores, said to be of great value by some of the officers of the vessel." At the time of capture, 21 officers and 124 men, including marines were on board.
In the United States Navy
After completion of temporary repairs at Port Royal, Du Pont placed the prize in temporary commission on 26 September and sent her to Philadelphia where she was condemned by a prize court, repaired in the Federal navy yard, and commissioned again on 2 February 1864. Still bearing her Confederate Navy name while in the Federal Navy, Atlanta was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.During most of her career under Union colors, Atlanta was stationed up the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
helping other Northern warships support General Grant's
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
operations against Richmond. Under the command of Acting Lieutenant Thomas J. Woodward, her main service was to guard against a foray from the Confederate capital of the small fleet of Southern warships. On 21 May 1864, she and the schooner-rigged screw steamer Dawn shelled Confederate cavalry which was attacking Fort Powhatan on the James. Their gunfire broke up the assault and dispersed the Southern troopers.
After the collapse of the Confederacy, Atlanta steamed north to Philadelphia where she was decommissioned on 21 June 1865. She was sold at auction at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to Sam Ward on 4 May 1869. Haiti purchased Atlanta for $160,000 in gold, but while sailing to the country in December 1869, she sank off Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape on the coast of North Carolina. It is the point that protrudes the farthest to the southeast along the northeast-to-southwest line of the Atlantic coast of North America...
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