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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

CSS Florida III

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Screw Sloop:

Built at Liverpool, England by William C. Miller & Sons of Toxleth, Liverpool for Fawcett, Preston & Co. of Liverpool who engined her

Purchased by the Confederacy from Fawcett, Preston & Co. for service as a commerce raider

Florida departed England, 22 March 1862, for Nassau to coal without success

She moved to isolated Green Cay in the Bahamas so she could bunker and transfer stores and arms

Commissioned CSS Florida, 17 August 1862, LT. John Newland Maffitt, CSN, in command

During her outfitting, yellow fever raged among her crew, in 5 days reducing her effective force to one fireman and four deckhands

LT. Maffitt sailed his ship to Cardenas Cuba, were he too was stricken with the fever

Desperately ill Maffitt sailed his ship from Cardenas to Mobile

Florida braved the hail of projectiles from the Union blockaders racing through them to anchor beneath the guns of Ft. Morgan

Florida returned to the open sea 16 January 1863

The next six month found Florida cruising off North and South America and in the West Indies, with calls at neutral ports, all the while making captures and eluding the large Federal squadron pursuing her

She sailed 27 July from Bermuda for Brest, where she lay in the French Government dock from 23 August 1863 to 12 February 1864

There broken in health, Maffitt relinquished command to LT. Morris

Departing for the West Indies, Florida bunkered at Barbados

She then skirted the U.S. coast, sailed east to Teneriffe in the Canaries and thence to Bahia, 4 October 1864

Anchored in the Brazilian haven, on 7 October Florida was caught defenseless in a night attack by CDR. Napoleon Collins of USS Wachusett, while her captain LT. Charles M. Morris, CSN, was ashore with half his crew

Towed to sea, she was sent to the United States as a prize despite Brazil's protests at this violation of neutral rights

At Newport News, 28 November 1864, Florida reached the end of her strange career when she sank in a collision with USAT Alliance, a troop ferry

Florida captured 37 prizes during her impressive career

Specifications:
Displacement unknown
Length 191'
Beam 35'
Draft 13'
Depth of Hold 14'

Speed

under steam 9.5 kts

under canvas 12 kts

Complement 146

Armament

six 6" rifles

two 7" rifles

one 12-pdr

Propulsion steam and sail

CSS Florida III
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett, 7 October 1864 - Report of LT. Morris, CSN, late commanding CSS Florida, of the seizure of that vessel by the USS Wasusett, October 7, 1864 at Bahia, Brazil

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This page is created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Michael Junge

Last Updated 26 May 2023

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
171k	Oil painting, probably depicting the arrival of CS Florida in the Bahamas in 1862. She had been purchased secretly in England and sent to the Bahamas for fitting out as a warship. This may explain the absence of visible armament on the ship. Courtesy of Miss Grace Tully, formerly private secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who gave her this painting. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 54157	US Naval History and Heritage Command
164k	Wash drawing of CSS Florida by Clary Ray, December 1894. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 57835	US Naval History and Heritage Command
132k	CSS Florida running past the Federal blockader USS Oneida to escape into Mobile Bay, Alabama, 4 September 1862. On this occasion, *Florida* also evaded USS Winona and USS Rachael Seaman US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 1319	US Naval History and Heritage Command
140k	CSS Florida in pursuit of the clipper ship *Jacob Bell, in the Atlantic, 12 February 1863. Lithograph by J. H. Bufford, 1863, republished by the Naval Historical Foundation. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 85079-KN*	US Naval History and Heritage Command
179k	19th century photo of an artwork of CSS Florida overhauling and capturing the clipper ship *Jacob Bell, in the Atlantic, 12 February 1863. Jacob Bell* was carrying a cargo valued at $1,500,000.00 US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 1320	US Naval History and Heritage Command
138k	CSS Florida capturing and sinking the clipper ship *Jacob Bell, 12 February 1863. A line engraving by by G. Perkins from Harper’s Weekly, January – June 1863, page 187. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 59293*	US Naval History and Heritage Command
132k	CSS Florida burning *Star of Peace* while en route from Calcutta, India to Boston, Massachusetts, 6 March 1863. US National Archives Photo # USN 902856	US Naval History and Heritage Command
164k	CSS Florida escaping from Mobile Bay, 15 January 1863. US National Archives Photo # USN 902854	US Naval History and Heritage Command
134k	Photograph of CSS Florida at Brest, France, circa August 1863-February 1864. Printed on the reverse of the original carte de visite is: L. Cigon ... 56 Rue de Siam ... Brest US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 49994	US Naval History and Heritage Command
210k	Artistic license woodcut print of the Confederate Raiders CSS Florida and CSS Rappahannock sailing together. from "Harper's Weekly", 1864	Tommy Trampp
177k	19th Century photo of an artwork depicting CSS Florida at St. George's, Bermuda, 1863. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 54154	US Naval History and Heritage Command
309k	19th Century cyanotype photographic print of an oil painting by R.S. Floyd, depicting CSS Florida chasing a merchant sailing ship, after having set another prize afire (in the right distance). This may depict the events of 10 July 1864, when *Florida* took four prizes off the Eastern Shore of Maryland: the bark *General Berry, which was captured first and burned; the bark (not a ship as shown here) Zelinda, captured second and burned later in the day; the schooner Howard, which was bonded and released with prisoners from previous captures; and the steamer Electric Spark, which was scuttled during the following night. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 54156*	US Naval History and Heritage Command
355k	19th Century phototype print by F. Gutekunst, Philadelphia. It depicts the capture of the Confederate raider CSS Florida by USS Wachusett at Bahia, Brazil, 7 October 1864. Enlarged version of US Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 59355	Robert Hurst
204k	The captured confederate raider CSS Florida and USS Wachusett sailing north after leaving Bahia, Brazil in October 1864. From Harper's Weekly, 1 January 1865. Author unknown. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.	Robert Hurst
616k	Portraits of some of the officers that served in CSS Florida Left to Right: NH 66689 - First Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, CSN, last commanding officer of CSS Florida, January-October 1864 NH 47208 - First Lieutenant Thomas K. Porter, CSN, Executive Officer of CSS FLORIDA when seized by USS WACHUSETT at Bahia, Brazil, 7 October 1864. He also served in the Confederate States Army, following service in the US Navy.. NH 44207 - First Lieutenant Sardine Graham Stone, Jr., CSN, served in CSS Florida from 1862 to 1864. Portrait photograph taken by Mage Frères of Brest, France US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #'s NH 66689, NH 47208, and NH 44207.	US Naval History and Heritage Command