CSS Isondiga
1863 American Confederate wooden gunboat / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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CSS Isondiga was a wooden gunboat that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Designed according to Matthew Fontaine Maury's plan to produce a large number of small vessels to swamp the Union blockade, Isondiga was one of only two or three of these Maury gunboats actually completed, and the only one completed as designed. The Maury gunboats project had been almost entirely cancelled in favor of ironclad production after the Battle of Hampton Roads. Isondiga was built in Savannah, Georgia, and was transferred to the Confederate Navy in January 1863 to begin the fitting out process. At this time, she was commanded by Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard.
History | |
---|---|
Confederate States | |
Name | Isondiga |
Builder | Krenson and Hawkes |
Commissioned | 1863 |
Fate | Burned to prevent capture, December 21, 1864 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Gunboat |
Length | 116 feet (35 m) |
Beam | 21 feet (6.4 m) |
Draft | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
Propulsion | Screw steamer |
Speed | 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) |
Complement | 60 |
Armament | 1 × Dahlgren gun * 1 × Brooke rifle |
In late May 1863, Isondiga accompanied the ironclad CSS Atlanta in an attempt to attack the Union blockade in Wassaw Sound, but this was foiled when Atlanta ran aground. On June 17, Isondiga and the steamer CSS Resolute accompanied Atlanta in an engagement where the ironclad attacked two Union monitors and was quickly captured. At times later in 1863, Isondiga was inactivate because parts of her crew were temporarily transferred to Charleston, South Carolina. She continued service in the Savannah area in 1864. Kennard was transferred to the gunboat CSS Macon in June. In December, the city was about to fall into Union hands, and on December 20, Isondiga covered the Confederate retreat from the city over a pontoon bridge. While trying to escape herself, Isondiga ran aground and was burned by her crew on December 21 under orders from her commander, Lieutenant Hamilton Dalton.