- Virginia State Navy
The Virginia Navy existed briefly from the time the state of
Virginia seceded from the Union onApril 17 ,1861 , until Virginia joined theConfederate States of America and turned over its military onJune 8 . One of the state's first actions was to appointRobert E. Lee as head of its army and navy.The first, and only, flag officer of the Virginia Navy was Commodore
French Forrest , formerly of theUnited States Navy . The command center was the newly acquired naval base atNorfolk , abandoned by the Federals onApril 20 ,1861 .Noteworthy officers
Former members of the
United States Navy who would play a significant role in the comingAmerican Civil War :*
Samuel Barron
*John Mercer Brooke
*French Forrest
*Catesby ap Roger Jones
*Sydney Smith Lee
*William F. Lynch
*Thomas J. Page
*William Harwar Parker
*Robert B. Pegram
*Thomas R. Rootes
*James H. Rochelle
* John Randolph Tucker
*William C. Whittle Ships in Service
At the time when it turned over its military to the Confederate States, the Virginia Navy had the following ships:
* USS "United States", rechristened CSS "Confederate States"
* CSS "George Page"
* CSS "Logan"
* CSS "Northampton"
* CSS "Teaser"
* CSS "Jamestown"
* CSS "Patrick Henry"References
*cite book | title=Capital Navy: The Men, Ships and Operations of the James River Squadron |author=John M. Coski | publisher=Savas Woodbury Publishers | location=Campbell, CA | year=1996 | id=ISBN 1-882810-03-1
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