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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

CSS Louisiana

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Ironclad Steamer:
  • Laid down at New Orleans, 15 October 1861 by E. C. Murray, lack of materials impeded her completion
  • Launched, 6 February 1862
  • On 20 April 1862 the unfinished Louisiana was towed to Fort St. Philip after Union mortar boats under CDR. D. D. Porter, USN, shelled Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson
  • Louisiana was tied to the eastern bank of the Mississippi half a mile above Fort St. Philip to operated as a floating battery
  • Although incomplete and unable to maneuver Louisiana posed a serious threat to Union ships coming with her range and line of fire
  • 28 April 1862 the forts surrendered to CDR. Porter and Louisiana was set on fire by her crew
  • Final Disposition, the burning Louisiana broke loose and drifted downstream, her guns fired as the flames reached their charges, and then the whole ship exploded
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,400 t.
    Length 264'
    Beam 62'
    Depth of Hold 12-13 ft
    Casemate
    slopped at a 45° angle on all four sides
    extended her length less than 35 ft at each end
    Covered by "T" railroad iron in two courses
    top encompassed by sheet iron bulwarks nearly 4 ft high
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 300
    Armament
    two 7" rifles
    three 9" shell guns
    seven 32-pdr rifles
    Propulsion
    four steam engines
    two paddle wheels in a center well
    two propellers
    twin rudders
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Louisiana 143k 19th Century photograph of a lithograph by Bowen & Company, depicting the ship as she would have appeared if completed and previous to the explosion that destroyed her in the Mississippi River near Fort St. Philip, 28 April 1862
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 1734    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Louisiana 56k Gun deck plan of CSS Louisiana from papers of Commander J. K. Mitchell, CSN.
    Image from "Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion", v. 18, p. 287.    		 Robert Hurst
    Louisiana 117k CSS Louisiana on the way to Fort St. Philip. Image from p.72 of the book "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon the Century War Series, volume 2, pub. 1 January 1887, by Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel.
    Image courtesy of the British Library from its digital collections.    		 Robert Hurst
    Varuna 137k Line engraving published in "Virtue", depicting the battle, which took place on the lower Mississippi River during the night of 24 April 1862. A key to the forts and specific U.S. and Confederate ships is given at the bottom of the view. The ships include USS Varuna (in action with Confederate gunboats), USS Brooklyn, USS Pawnee (not shown), USS Hartford (Farragut's flagship, with a fire raft alongside), USS Pensacola, USS Mississippi, CSS Louisiana (exploding), CSS Manassas and Federal mortar vessels.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59071    		 Robert Hurst
    Louisiana 238k CSS Louisiana explodes after her crew set her on fire.
    Image from p.78 of the book "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon the Century War Series, volume 2, pub. 1 January 1887, by Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel.
    Image courtesy of the British Library from its digital collections.    		 Robert Hurst
    Louisiana 113k Line engraving published in Harper's Weekly, 1862, depicting CSS Louisiana blowing up off Fort St. Philip, LA., 18 April 1862, after the Confederates surrendered the lower Mississippi River fortifications.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 58876    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    St. Louis 126k "Brilliant Naval Victory on the Mississippi River, Near Fort Wright, May 10th 1862."
    Brilliant Naval Victory on the Mississippi River, Near Fort Wright, May 10th 1862 by the Union Flotilla of 6 Gunboats, commanded by Com. C.H. Davis, and the Rebel fleet of 8 Iron-clads, under Hollins. The action lasted one hour. Two of the Rebel gunboats were blown up and one sunk, when the remainder retired precipitately under the guns of the fort.
    Lithograph by Currier & Ives, New York, providing a curious (and quite inaccurate) view of the action off Fort Pillow in which the Confederate River Defense Fleet, under Captain James E. Montgomery, attacked Federal gunboats. The print identifies the following ships (from left to right):
    CSS Mallory (non-existent vessel), shown sinking);
    CSS Louisiana (an ironclad that had already been destroyed by this time);
    USS Cincinnati;
    USS Benton;
    USS Cairo;
    USS Carondelet;
    USS Saint Louis; and
    USS Conestoga.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42365. Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 1936    		 Robert Hurst
    CSS Louisiana
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 7 April 2017