CSS Neuse

Career
Name:	CSS Neuse
Namesake:	Neuse River
Builder:	Howard and Ellis, Kinston, North Carolina
Launched:	November 1863
Commissioned:	April 1864
Fate:	Burned to prevent capture, March 1865
General characteristics
Type:	Ironclad ram
Length:	152 ft (46 m)
Beam:	34 ft (10 m)
Draft:	9 ft (2.7 m)
Armament:	2 × 6.4 in (160 mm) Brooke rifles

CSS NEUSE (Ironclad Gunboat)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city:	Kinston, North Carolina
Coordinates:	35°16′1.33″N 77°37′17.8″W / 35.2670361°N 77.621611°W / 35.2670361; -77.621611Coordinates: 35°16′1.33″N 77°37′17.8″W / 35.2670361°N 77.621611°W / 35.2670361; -77.621611
Built:	1865
Architect:	Confederate Navy Dept.; Howard & Ellis
Architectural style:	Other
Governing body:	State
NRHP Reference#:	00000444[1]
Added to NRHP:	11 June 2001

The CSS Neuse was an ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. The remains of the ship can now be seen at an exhibit in Kinston, North Carolina as the CSS Neuse State Historic Site and Governor Caswell Memorial. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]

Construction

A contract for the construction on the CSS Neuse was signed on 17 October 1862 by the shipbuilding company of Thomas Howard and Elijah Ellis and the Confederate Navy. Work began in October on the bank across the Neuse River (her namesake) in North Carolina from the small village of Whitehall (present day Seven Springs). She was designed similarly to the CSS Albemarle. Her hull structure was 158 feet (48 m) long by 34 feet (10 m) wide made of mostly pine wood, abundant in the region. Many delays were incurred due to the lack of materials, mostly wrought iron for her deck plating. The Confederate Army exercised priority over the Navy on use of the railroads.

Armament

She was fitted with two 6.4-inch (160 mm) Brooke rifled cannon (similar to a Parrott rifle). Each weighed more than 12,000 pounds.

Service history

Launched in November 1863, Neuse sailed in April 1864 for duty on the inland waters of North Carolina as part of the force under Comdr. R. F. Pinkney, CSN. Shortly thereafter she grounded off Kinston and remained fast for almost a month. She never left the river, and in March 1865 she was burned by the Confederates to escape capture by the Union Army under Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.

Recovery

Nearly a century later the remains of the ship were discovered. It was raised in 1963. Later the ship was installed beside the river at the Governor Caswell Memorial in Kinston. ^{[3] [4]} Bids are being place on the final resting site of the CSS Neuse in a climate controlled site in downtown Kinston. ^{[5] [6]} As there are only 3 surviving civil war era ironclads in existence , CSS Neuse, USS Cairo , CSS Jackson soon Cairo will be the only one out doors in the brutal Southern climate.

Replica

A full-size replica called the CSS Neuse II is on display at a separate site in Kinston. Constructed by volunteers from 2002 to 2009, it is reportedly the only full-size replica of a Confederate ironclad gunboat.

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Impromptu Web Query^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "War". Nc historic sites. http://www.nchistoricsites.org/neuse/preservation.htm. 
4. ^ "Moving the CSS Neuse A Question of Wood and Time". http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=33849. 
5. ^ "Bidding Opportunities". http://www.ncimed.com/index.php?view=details&id=1238:css-neuse-museum-addition&option=com_redevent&Itemid=397. 
6. ^ "Plans unveiled for CSS Neuse gunboat museum". http://www.kinston.com/articles/neuse-69232-drew-plans.html. 

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Ironclad warship

External links

• CSS Neuse State Historic Site
• CSS Neuse Foundation
• CSS Neuse Gunboat Association Inc.
• Naval Training Ship CSS Neuse
• Civil War Album
• Replica