The Tennessee was built in Selma, Alabama according to the standardized design drawn up by John L. Dixon and propagated by Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory. Well and strongly constructed, but with weak and temperamental engines (the Achilles' heel of most Confederate ironclads), the Tennessee was to prove the most heroic and successful of all Confederate Navy ironclads, single-handedly holding off an overwhelming Union fleet for some four hours at Mobile Bay in 1864. Her armor, composed of a triple layer of railroad iron laminated in different directions for increased strength, stood up to an immense pounding from Union solid shot and shell guns, which destroyed everything unarmored about the vessel.
The partially completed Tennessee was towed from Selma to Mobile in early 1864 to fit out and become part of the port's defenses, along with forts, batteries, obstructions, and the unprotected wooden steamers Morgan, Selma, and Gaines. At right is one of the Brooke 6.4" muzzle-loading rifles mounted on the Tennessee, which was captured on her surrender at the Battle of Mobile Bay.
Specifications for the Tennessee: 209' long x 48' beam x 14' draft. Displacement: 1,273 tons. Armament: (2) 7" Brooke MLR; (4) 6.4" Brooke MLR. Top speed: 8 kts. Crew: 133.
The Tennessee was built in Selma, Alabama according to the standardized design drawn up by John L. Dixon and propagated by Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory. Well and strongly constructed, but with weak and temperamental engines (the Achilles' heel of most Confederate ironclads), the Tennessee was to prove the most heroic and successful of all Confederate Navy ironclads, single-handedly holding off an overwhelming Union fleet for some four hours at Mobile Bay in 1864. Her armor, composed of a triple layer of railroad iron laminated in different directions for increased strength, stood up to an immense pounding from Union solid shot and shell guns, which destroyed everything unarmored about the vessel.
The partially completed Tennessee was towed from Selma to Mobile in early 1864 to fit out and become part of the port's defenses, along with forts, batteries, obstructions, and the unprotected wooden steamers Morgan, Selma, and Gaines. At right is one of the Brooke 6.4" muzzle-loading rifles mounted on the Tennessee, which was captured on her surrender at the Battle of Mobile Bay.
Specifications for the Tennessee: 209' long x 48' beam x 14' draft. Displacement: 1,273 tons. Armament: (2) 7" Brooke MLR; (4) 6.4" Brooke MLR. Top speed: 8 kts. Crew: 133.
The Tennessee proved her lethal worth as the main defender of the fairway at the Battle of Mobile Bay, fought on the night of August 4-5, 1864. The Union fleet crept in, formed in two columns (ironclad monitors in the column closer to the forts, the other column composed of the larger fighting ships, with smaller ships and transports lashed to their non-engaged sides by huge cables). Suddenly, the lead monitor Tecumseh sheared off course as waterspouts erupted under her starboard side: she had exploded two contact mines (torpedoes), and sank immediately. It was at this point that Union Adm. David Glasgow Farragut, lashed to the shrouds of his flagship USS Hartford, ordered: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." Emerging from under the guns of Ft. Moultrie in Tennessee, Capt. James D. Johnston charged into the fray at full speed, attempting to ram, then engage great wooden warships such as the Hartford (seen here) and Brooklyn virtually muzzle to muzzle -- and inflicting considerable damage. The Union had adapted its tactics, however, and with safety in numbers was confident of eventual victory. Tennessee was rammed repeatedly by the wooden sloops Monongahela and Susquehannah, starting her seams. Although her armor held up quite well, Tennessee suffered the muzzles blown off several guns, rendering them inoperable. Unprotected parts of the ship were all shot away: the stack, pilothouse, davits, and, most harmfully, the steering chains, which ran unprotected along her afterdeck. Unable to maneuver, his boilers crippled, and leaking like a sieve, with Adm. Franklin Buchanan and 8 crewmen wounded, 2 killed, Johnston had no humane choice left but to haul down his colors, as shown in an old engraving. While the artist has certainly omitted the fog of cannon smoke for clarity, he has scarcely exaggerated the closeness of the ships, nor the naval preponderance of the Union fleet. Tennessee was the only rightful naval vessel the Confederates had at Mobile (her mates were tinclad side-wheelers), and she had to engage the entire Union fleet single-handed after her consorts were sunk or driven ashore. Like the South itself, Tennessee had fought with valor and gallantry in a doomed cause.
Taken into the Union Navy briefly, Tennessee was sold for scrap in a public auction at New Orleans in 1867.
Taken into the Union Navy briefly, Tennessee was sold for scrap in a public auction at New Orleans in 1867.
The Tennessee photographed at Algiers, Louisiana after capture.
