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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

CSS Arkansas

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Arkansas Class Iron-clad Ram:

Laid down at Memphis, TN., in 1861 by J. T. Shirley

Completed on the Yazoo River after fall of Memphis in May 1862.

CSS Arkansas was discovered on the Yazoo by USS Carondelet and USS Queen of the West, 15 July 1862, Arkansas inflicted heavy casualties in Carondelet. Arkansas entered the Mississippi, running through the Union fleet to take refuge under the Vicksburg batteries, but she was heavily damaged and sustained many casualties, in the battle Arkansas substantially damaged USS Winona and USS Sumter

USS Essex and Queen of the West ran down past Vicksburg, 22 July 1862, unsuccessfully attacking CSS Arkansas

Again engaged by Essex about 5 miles above Baton Rouge, LA., 6 August 1862, Arkansas plagued by engine trouble, she was unable to fight or flee and drifted ashore

Final Disposition, there she was abandoned and fired to prevent capture

Specifications:
Displacement unknown
Length 165'
Beam 35'
Draft 11' 6"
Speed 8 kts
Complement 200

Armament

two 9" smoothbore cannon

two 9" 64-pdrs

two 9" shell guns

two 6" rifled cannon

two 32-pdr smoothbore cannon

Propulsion

two low pressure 900hp steam engines

twin screws

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
	109k	Illustration of CSS Arkansas from the book "An Illustrated Guide to the Fighting Vessels of the Union and the Confederacy", by Kevin J. Dougherty, 2013	Tommy Trampp
	153k	Line engraving after a drawing by J.O. Davidson, published in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", Volume III, page 573, depicting CSS Arkansas fitting out off Yazoo City, Mississippi, in June-July 1862. Assisting in the work is the CSS Capitol. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73376	Robert Hurst
	51k	Sepia wash drawing of CSS Arkansas by R.G. Skerrett, 1 January 1904. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 61912-KN (Color). Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.	Robert Hurst
	184k	CSS Arkansas running through the Union fleet above Vicksburg, Mississippi, 15 July 1862. Line engraving after a drawing by J.O. Davidson, published in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", Volume III, page 556. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73358	Robert Hurst
	76k	Painting by Tom Freeman of CSS Arkansas shaves the line between USS Carondelet and USS Tyler as she exits the Yazoo River, 15 July 1862. Photo courtesy Foro Militar General.	Tommy Trampp
	308k	"The Arkansas ran the Gauntlet of the Whole Fleet" CSS Arkansas ran the "Gauntlet of the Whole Fleet" artwork published in Deeds of Valor, Volume II, page 31, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907. It depicts *Arkansas* during her passage through the Federal fleet above Vicksburg, Mississippi, 15 July 1862. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 79911	USNH&HC
098650109	217k	A line engraving after a drawing by J.O. Davidson, published in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", Volume III, page 556., depicting the passage of CSS Arkansas through the Federal fleet above Vicksburg, Mississippi, 15 July 1862. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 73378	Robert Hurst
	447k	On 15 July 1862 CSS Arkansas exited the Yazoo River and steamed past two Union squadrons to reach Vicksburg. One of her officers, Acting Master Samuel Milliken, drew this sketch of the ship, which unlike other operational Rebel ironclads featured perpendicular, not inclined casemate sides.	Tommy Trampp
	87k	CSS Arkansas as it appeared to readers of the New York Tribune, 31 July 31, 1862. Author unknown.	Robert Hurst
	436k	Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862 depicting the Union gunboat USS Essex, destroying the Rebel Iron-clad Ram CSS Arkansas, on the Mississippi River. *Arkansas* had been run ashore and burned to prevent capture when her engines failed during this encounter with *Essex, 6 August 1862. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59042*	Robert Hurst
098650111	166k	Colored lithograph by Currier & Ives "Destruction of the rebel ram CSS Arkansas". USS Essex attacked and disabled CSS Arkansas on the Mississippi River, near Baton Rouge, 4 August 1862. *Essex* again attacked *Arkansas* on 6 August completing the destruction of the rebel ram. United States Library of Congress Prints and Photographs division, digital ID ds.00359. LCCN91795896.	Robert Hurst
098650112	151k	Explosion of the Confederate ram CSS Arkansas on the Mississippi River, 6 August 1862. 1888 Civil War print sketch from an 1888 Century Co. New York Publication.	Tommy Trampp

CSS Arkansas
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Last Updated 30 October 2020