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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

CSS Nansemond

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Hampton Class Screw Gunboat:
  • Built a Norfolk, VA. in 1862
  • Launched in 1862
  • Commissioned, CSS Nansemond circa May 1862, LT. J Rutledge CSN in command
  • Assigned to duty with the James River Squadron under Flag Officer S. Barron, CSN, she sailed from Norfolk with the other vessels of the squadron on 4 May 1862, just prior to the evacuation of the Norfolk Navy Yard at Portsmouth, VA..
  • Nansemond continued on active duty in the James River until the end of the war taking part in the engagements at Hewlett's, Va., 21 June 1864, Dutch Gap, 14 August 1864, and Fort Harrison, 29 September-1 October 1864.
  • Final Disposition, destroyed by Confederate forces to avoid capture by Union forces upon evacuation of Richmond, 3 April 1865
    Specifications:
    Displacement 166 t.
    Length unknown
    Beam 21'
    Draft 5'
    Depth of Hold 8'
    Speed 11.5 kts
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    two 8" guns
    Propulsion
    two steam engines
    twin propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Plymouth 181k Pencil sketch by LT. Walter R. Butt, CSN, 1865 depicting CSS Nansemond off Chaffins Bluff, on the James River, VA., 22 March 1865.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73908, courtesy of Marshall W. Butt, Director, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, Portsmouth, VA, 1971.    		 Bill Gonyo
    CSS Nansemond
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Rutledge, John CSN4 May 1862 - 30 November 1863
    02LT. Rochelle, James Henry CSN30 November 1863 - 30 April 1864
    03Master Read, William W. CSN1 May 1864 - 18 May 1864
    04LT. Murdaugh, John W. CSN18 May 1864 - 8 June 1864
    05LT. Hays, Charles W. CSN8 June 1864 - 11 October 1864
    06LT. Skinner, Thomas L. CSN12 October 1864 - 26 October 1864
    07LT. Hays, Charles W. CSN26 October 1864 - 17 November 1864
    08LT. Bell, Thomas P. CSN17 November 1864 - 1 December 1864
    09LT. Butt, Walter R. CSN1 December 1864 - 3 April 1865
    Courtesy Bill Gonyo
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 9 August 2013