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Review
• Naval Comparison• Diplomacy objectives
Lesson 8: The Civil War at Sea
Confederate Naval Strategy
• Part of overall strategy of “Attrition Warfare”.– Army will defend territory and threaten Washington.
• Coastal defense:– Army forts and new naval weapons systems.
• Blockade-running:– Attempt to continue commercial trade with Europe.– Operations hurt by Southerners’ desires for luxury goods.
• Union blockade’s increasing effectiveness increases profits.
• Commerce raiding:– Successful cruises divert Union ships from blockade duty.– Privateers (1861):
• Declaration of Paris - 1856.• Unable to secure prize courts (sovereignty problems).
Union Naval Strategy
• Part of overall strategy of Anaconda plan– Army will defend Washington and capture Richmond– Navy will maintain strict blockade– Joint ops to split Confederacy in half
Am Rev v. Civil War
• Was the war at sea (ocean) where each war was going to be won or lost?
• How did the war on inland waters compare to the war at sea?
• How did diplomacy work in each of these wars?
Early Naval Operations
• Norfolk Navy Yard– Largest naval base and arsenal in the United States.– Captured by Confederate forces on 21 April.– USS Merrimack scuttled by retreating Union forces.– Large number of guns captured by Confederates.
• Union blockade of the Confederacy:– “Paper Blockade” needs to become real as soon as
possible.– Forward bases required for an effective blockade.– Amphibious operations launched to seize bases in the
South.
Battle of Port Royal• Attempt to establish first Union base on
Confederate territory at Port Royal Sound -- 7 November 1861.
• Commodore Stephen F. DuPont• Superior naval gunfire:
– Directed against Confederate forts defending the Sound.
– Confederates abandon forts.• Union soldiers and Marines land unopposed.• Other Union amphibious operations will
resemble Port Royal operation.
Three Theaters
• Great Inland Rivers– Mississippi River Basin– Vicksburg– Red River
• Atlantic and Gulf Coasts– Fort Fisher– Port Royale– Mobile Bay
• Blue Water– CSS Alabama & CSS Florida
Battle of Mobile Bay• Union fleet commanded by David Glasgow Farragut.• Confederate fleet commanded by Franklin Buchanan.• Entrance to Mobile Bay heavily defended.
– Torpedo buoys placed in entrance to the Bay.– Guns of Fort Morgan defend only open channel.
• Union fleet outnumbers and outguns the Confederate fleet waiting in Mobile Bay.
• Farragut positions “monitors” between the rest of his fleet and Fort Morgan.
• Brooklyn’s captain stops and blocks the channel.• “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
Battle of Mobile Bay
Commerce Raiding
• What where the famous Confederate ships?
• What effect did this have on Northern shipping?
• Effect on outcome of the war?
Technological Innovations
• Armor• Torpedoes• Rams
Interservice cooperation
• How well was it coordinated on the southern side?
• How well was intergovernmental agency cooperation?
Tactical Trends
• Introduction of “ironclads”:– Strengths: Heavily armored
– Weaknesses: Low mobility on the open ocean.
• Question of a fleet's ability to suppress coastal
fortifications unanswered.
• Appreciation for combined (Army-Navy) operations.
– Proper planning and coordination essential for success.
Costal Defense
• Effectiveness of Forts?– Types– Are Monitors effective defensive weapons or
offensive?• Torpedoes?
Technological Innovation
• North — Monitor Class– Combination of steam, screw, armor, and a gun turret– Large numbers built– “Dahlgren Guns” effective at close range– Gives Union Navy the advantage on coastal and inland
waterways• South
– CSS Virginia -- Steam power and iron armor– The “Davids”– CSS Hunley - submarine– “Torpedoes”– “Laird” rams
CSS Hunley
