The CSS
Savannah was an ironclad ram built by H F Willink at the Savannah Shipyard in
1863. It was 172.5 feet long with a 34
foot beam and 12.5 foot draft. The four
inch thick iron armor covering her wooden haul was made in Atlanta. The Savannah was armed with among other guns,
two 7 inch rifled cannon and two 6.4 inch Brook guns. Her top speed was about 6 knots and she
carried a crew of 180.
The Savannah
was launched February 4th 1863, and by June was in the Savannah
River under Flag Officer William Hunter.
She wasn’t engaged in battle until Union General William T Sherman moved
on the city of Savannah, Georgia at the end of his March to the Sea in December
1864. She was unable to stop Sherman’s
capturing the city. The Savannah stayed
there on the river covering Confederate General William Joseph Hardee’s retreat from
the city on a pontoon bridge.
The Savannah
engaged in an artillery duel December 20th 1864 with Union
guns. When she tried to escape the river
she wound up trapped by one the Confederacies own torpedo mines. On December 21st 1864 in order to
keep the Savannah from being captured her commander had her run aground on the
South Carolina side of the river, and set afire.
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