Civil War Navy

The C.S. Navy could not hope to achieve equality with the Union Navy, but it hoped to overcome its lack of ships through technological innovation, such as the use of ironclads, submarines, torpedo boats, and naval mines (known at the time as torpedoes). The Confederate Navy in February 1861 amounted to ten ships carrying fifteen guns, whereas the North had ninety vessels, although initially only about fourteen were fit to fight at sea.

As the war progressed, the C.S. Navy grew with the rising naval conflicts and the threatening naval enemies.

On April 20, 1861, the Union burned its ships at the Norfolk Navy Yard, one of only two navy yards located in the South at the time, in order to prevent their capture by the Confederates. The other navy yard was located in Pensacola, Florida, but was mainly intended for repairs, not construction. Some ships survived the Norfolk burning, including a screw frigate named the USS Merrimack. Secretary Stephen Mallory had the idea of raising the Merrimack and armoring the upper sides with iron plate. The ship became the CSS Virginia, one of the first ironclad ships of the war, that later became famous by fighting the USS Monitor in the Battle of Hampton Roads.

• The Confederate Navy