View source for CSS Ivy

{{Short description|Steamboat}}
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| Ship caption = 3D model of CSS ''Ivy''.
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| Ship country = Confederate States
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Confederate States of America|naval}}
| Ship name = ''Ivy''
| Ship namesake = V.H. Ivy
| Ship owner = [[Confederate States Navy]]
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| Ship fate = Destroyed to prevent capture at [[Liverpool, Mississippi|Liverpool Landing]], [[Yazoo River]], May 1863
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| Ship tons burthen = 447 tons
| Ship length = {{convert|191|ft|abbr=on}}
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| Ship propulsion = Side paddle wheels, one vertical condensing beam engine; cylinders, 44” diameter, 11’ stroke<ref name="ORN II, v. 1, p. 256">ORN II, v. 1, p. 256.</ref>
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| Ship speed = {{convert|12|kn|lk=in}}
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| Ship complement = 60 officers and men
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| Ship armament = 1 8”-smoothbore, 1 32-pounder rifle<ref name="silverstone">{{cite book|title=Warships of the Civil War Navies|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|year=1989|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-783-6|page=229}}</ref>
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'''CSS ''Ivy''''' was a sidewheel steamer and privateer purchased by Commodore [[Lawrence Rousseau]] for service with the [[Confederate States Navy]], and chosen by Commodore George Hollins for his [[Mosquito Fleet]]. The Mosquito Fleet was a group of riverboats converted to [[gunboat]]s, and used to defend the [[Mississippi River]] in the area of New Orleans during the [[American Civil War]].
[[File:Cutter on the USS Niagara (II).jpg|thumb|306x306px|CSS ''Ivy'' and [[USS Niagara (1855)|USS ''Niagara'']].]]
Equipped with a powerful rifled 32-pounder, ''Ivy'' fought with the Mosquito Fleet at the Confederate victory of the [[Battle of the Head of Passes]] and their defeat at the [[Battle of Island Number 10]]. Subsequently, trapped in the [[Yazoo River]], ''Ivy'' was destroyed to prevent her capture by the Union in May 1863.

==Description==

''Ivy'' was {{convert|191|ft|m|1}} long [[length overall|overall]], had a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|28|ft|m|1}} and a [[draft (ship)|draft]] of {{convert|9|ft|m|1}}.<ref name="Washington :Navy Dept. 1959">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer02wash|title=Dictionary of American naval fighting ships|last=Washington :Navy Dept.|first=Office of the Chief of Naval Operations|last2=Mooney|first2=James L.|last3=United States. Naval History Division|last4=Naval Historical Center (U.S.)|date=1959|publisher=Washington : Navy Dept., Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S.|others=George A. Smathers Libraries University of Florida}}</ref> Her two side  paddle wheels were powered by a large, sophisticated [[walking beam]] engine and multiple boiler propulsion system with {{convert|44|inch|cm|0}} diameter cylinders on an {{convert|11|foot|m|1}} stroke, giving a maximum speed of {{convert|12|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name="ORN II, v. 1, p. 256">ORN II, v. 1, p. 256.</ref> She had a complement of 60 officers and men.<ref name="Washington :Navy Dept. 1959"/>

As a privateer ''Ivy'' was armed with two brass 24-pounder [[smoothbore]] howitzers. As a riverboat her armament was increased to an eight-inch smoothbore mounted aft, and a 32-pounder rifled gun mounted on a forward pivot position on the bow. The conventional description of "rifled 32-pounder" is misleading, however. This gun was a former 32-pounder smoothbore that had been "modernized" by rifling the barrel, and machining and shrinking a single layer of red hot bands of wrought iron onto the breech of the barrel to allow it to operate at much greater breech pressures. This rifling and banding allowed the gun to fire a 100-pound (6.4-inch diameter) conical shot or shell at much greater ranges than would be possible with 32-pound round shot fired out of a smoothbore barrel. This modification was similar to the [[James rifle]] process used to produce siege guns, and the resulting gun tube resembled a [[Parrott rifle]]. This gun could be much more accurately described as a {{convert|6.4|inch|cm}} banded rifle, and was the most powerful long range weapon in the mosquito fleet.<ref name="lindsay">{{cite book|title=Mechanics Notebook 23, 1880 Ordnance, Ordnance Construction, Gun Carriages, Machine Guns & Manufacture of Ordnance|last=Lindsay|year=1989|publisher=Lindsay Publications Inc.|page=14}}</ref><ref name="konstam">{{cite book|title=Confederate Ironclad 1861–65|last=Konstam|first=Angus|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing Ltd.|isbn=978-1-84176-307-1|page=22}}</ref>

==Privateer==
As a privately owned commercial vessel, ''Ivy'' had been known as ''Roger Williams'' and ''El-Paraguay''. CSS ''Ivy'' began her Civil War career as a New Orleans-based privateer ''V.H. Ivy'', sent out to capture Union commercial vessels once [[Jefferson Davis]] authorized the distribution of letters of [[marque and reprisal]] to private citizens after hostilities began in April 1861. ''Ivy'' did well at this, capturing four northern registered vessels. One of these was the icebreaker ''Enoch Train'', which was purchased by private investors and rebuilt as the privateer [[ironclad ram]] ''Manassas''. This vessel in turn was commandeered by Commodore Hollins as {{ship|CSS|Manassas}}.<ref name="hearn">{{cite book|title=The Capture of New Orleans 1862|last=Hearn|first=Chester G.|year=1995|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=0-8071-1945-8|page=37}}</ref>

==Mosquito fleet==
===Blockade of the Mississippi===
The [[Union Blockade]] arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi on May{{nbsp}}27, 1861, when {{USS|Brooklyn|1858|6}} took up position. This event energized defense efforts in New Orleans and led to the replacement of Rousseau with Commodore Hollins in July 1861 to command the river defense. By August, Hollins had established his mosquito fleet for defense of the river in the area of New Orleans. The fleet consisted of {{ship|CSS|McRae}}, the [[flagship]] {{ship|CSS|Tuscarora}}, [[CSS Livingston|CSS ''Livingston'']], {{ship|CSS|Calhoun}}, {{ship|CSS|Jackson}}, and ''Ivy''. ''Ivy'' was the fastest ship of the fleet and so was made the reconnaissance vessel, with increased firepower.<ref>Hearn, pp. 70–1.</ref>

[[File:Cannon Banded Rifle 6.4inch CSN1864.jpg|thumb|right|6.4-inch banded rifle, the weapon type used as the bow pivot gun on CSS ''Ivy''. Note the 100-pound conical projectile at the right rear of the gun carriage. This image is from the Library of Congress.]]

[[File:Lower Mississippi River Map.jpg|thumb|Map of Louisiana during the Civil War. CSS ''Ivy'' was based in New Orleans and helped defend the lower Mississippi.<ref>ORN I, v. 18, p. 131.</ref>]]

===Battle of the Head of Passes===

''Ivy'' began patrolling the Mississippi River south of Forts Jackson and St. Phillip beginning in September 1861, captained by Lieutenant Fry of the CSN. On September{{nbsp}}19 she encountered {{USS|Water Witch|1851|6}}. ''Water Witch'' was scouting the [[Head of Passes]] for the blockade fleet, which was planning to occupy the Head of Passes and set up a shore battery to control this strategic point. On October 5 ''Ivy'' reported the Head of Passes occupied by three vessels of the Union fleet, and shelled them with her bow pivot gun. Returning to the forts, Fry warned Hollins that the Union fleet was establishing a base at the Head of Passes. Hollins decided that the advance of the Blockade Fleet was a significant threat to New Orleans and moved to attack with the entire mosquito fleet. This attack resulted in the [[Battle of the Head of Passes]], a Confederate victory which routed the Blockade Fleet and sent it back to the mouth of the Southwest Passage.<ref>Hearn, pp. 82–3.</ref>

===Battle of Island Number 10===

This victory reinforced the idea in the Confederate War Department that Flag Officer [[Andrew Hull Foote|Foote's]] Union [[Mississippi River Squadron]] at the north end of the Mississippi was the greatest threat to the Confederacy. The [[Battle of Fort Henry]], the [[Battle of Fort Donelson]], and the [[Battle of Shiloh]] lent a lot of credibility to this idea. As a result, the mosquito fleet and ''Ivy'' were ordered to the upper Mississippi and took part in the  [[Battle of Island Number 10]].<ref>Hearn, p. 169.</ref> Island Number 10 was a defeat for the Confederate forces involved. The mosquito fleet could not match {{USS|Pittsburgh|1861|6}} and {{USS|Carondelet|1861|2}} after these ships successfully ran the Confederate batteries, and it was forced to retreat.<ref name=p798/>

[[File:Yazoo River 1863 Porter.jpg|thumb|right|Porter's Yazoo River expedition against the last Confederate Naval base in western waters at Yazoo City. This image is from the Library of Congress.]]

===Destruction===
Commander McBlair CSN at Memphis, being informed that New Orleans had fallen after the [[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip]], ordered the remaining Confederate vessels on the Mississippi to concentrate at [[Yazoo City, Mississippi]], on the Yazoo River. He regarded this harbor as the only safe place remaining on the Mississippi River network for the Confederate Navy to maintain a base.<ref name=p798>ORN II, v. 1, p. 798.</ref>

This remaining refuge did not prove safe for long. In May 1863, Rear Admiral [[David Dixon Porter]] ordered a fleet under the command of Lieutenant-commander Walker to destroy Confederate commerce on the Yazoo River. This force consisted of {{USS|Baron De Kalb|1861|6}}, {{USS|Forest Rose|1862|2}}, {{USS|Linden|1860|2}}, {{USS|Signal|1862|2}}, and {{USS|Petrel|1862|2}}. With ''Forest Rose'' acting as a [[minesweeper]], this force advanced steadily up the Yazoo River, from May 24–31. Fearing the capture of their vessels on the Yazoo, Confederate forces destroyed CSS ''Ivy'', ''[[Star of the West]]'', and the transports ''Arcadia'' and ''Magenta''.<ref>ORN I, v. 25, pp. 133–4.</ref>

==References==

;Abbreviations used in these notes:
:Official atlas: ''Atlas to accompany the official records of the Union and Confederate armies.''
:ORA (Official records, armies): ''War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies.''
:ORN (Official records, navies): ''Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.''

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUDQYzE9gcM Video of the operation of a walking beam steam engine.]
* [http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dowdey.com/manassas11JP.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dowdey.com/&h=636&w=1024&sz=99&tbnid=mRv_8NyBoBwbdM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcss%2Bmanassas%2Bimages&usg=__n36ubHCQ5UdW_qJqT2W7AbhlgJw=&sa=X&ei=RzQRTPmfAobaMdKTvLYC&ved=0CBgQ9QEwAQ Image of CSS Ivy.]
* [http://www.jlkstamps.com/csa/archives/ivy.htm Charles Morfit and the Ivy.]

{{CSN Steamers}}
{{1863 shipwrecks}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivy, CSS}}
[[Category:1845 ships]]
[[Category:Gunboats of the Confederate States Navy]]
[[Category:Louisiana in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in rivers]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1863]]