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CSS Rappahannock (II)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Steam Sloop-of-War:
  • Laid down, 24 May 1855 by Money Wigram & Son, Blackwall, London as the Steam Sloop-of War Victor for the British government
  • Launched, 2 November 1855
  • Sold to R. Gordon Coleman as Scylla in November 1863 and resold later in the month to the Confederacy
  • Suspecting she was destined to be a Confederate commerce raider, she was detained by the British government, but successfully escaped from Sheerness, England, 24 November 1863
  • Confederates intended Rappahannock as replacement for CSS Georgia and planned to transfer Georgia's battery to Rappahannock
  • Commissioned a Confederate man-of-war while under way, but while passing out of the Thames Estuary her bearings burned out and she had to be taken across to Calais for repairs
  • At Calais LT. C. M. Fauntleroy, CSN, was placed in command
  • Detained on various pretexts by the French Government, Rappahannock never got to sea and was turned over to the United States at the close of the war
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 857 t.
    Length 200'
    Beam 30'2"
    Depth of Hold 14'6"
    Draft unknown
    Speed 11.6 kts
    Complement 100
    Armament
    one 68-pdr muzzle-loading rifle
    four 32-pdr (25 cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore guns
    one 7" /110-pdr breech loader
    one 40pdr breech loader
    four 20-pdr breech loaders
    Propulsion
    Barque rigged sails
    one 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine; 1,166 IHP
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Rappahannock
    09060613    		 53k
    Namesake
    Rappahannock - Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately 195 miles in length.[3] It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west where it rises, across the Piedmont to the Fall Line, and onward through the coastal plain to flow into the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River. (Wikipedia)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Rappahannock 210k Artistic license woodcut print of the Confederate Raiders CSS Florida and CSS Rappahannock sailing together.
    from "Harper's Weekly", 1864    		 Tommy Trampp
    Rappahannock 31k CSS Rappahannock moored pierside at Calais, France. Tommy Trampp
    Rappahannock
    098659703    		 114k CSS Rappahannock laying a Calais, France.
    "THE 'RAPPAHANNOCK.'
    THERE are some curious circumstances connected with the screw steamer Rappahannock, alias the Scylla, of London, alias her Majesty's steam-sloop Victor. The English Admiralty, a short time ago, disposed of her Majesty's screw gun-vessel Victor, and, on being sold, she was permitted to undergo some repairs under the superintendence of the dock-yard officials. It was stated that she was intended for the China trade, and she was ostensibly fitted with that view, while her name was changed to the 'Scylla, of London.' Several suspicious circumstances, however, occurred, and the dock-yard officials made a report to the Admiralty. The result was the receipt of an order at Sheerness directing her to be stopped. The order, however, arrived a few hours too late. Those in charge of the vessel evidently suspected the intentions of the Government, and had her taken out of the harbor. She immediately afterward hoisted the Confederate flag, and she now sails under the name of the Rappahannock. On leaving the Nore the Rappahannock sailed direct for Calais Harbor, in France, which she entered as a Confederate privateer. The Customs authorities at Calais, in answer to a question, have received instructions from Paris to allow the Rappahannock to leave whenever her captain pleases. It is said that the English Admiralty have also sold the war steamers Amphion, Cyclops, and Phoenix to 'private purchasers.'"
    Harper's Weekly, 16 January 1864.    		 Tommy Trampp
    CSS Rappahannock (II)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 7 August 2020