CSS Spray
![]() CSS Spray | |
History | |
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Name | Spray |
Laid down | New Albany, Indiana |
Maiden voyage | 1850 |
In service | 1863-1865 |
Captured | May 12, 1865 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Steam gunboat |
Type | Tugboat |
Tonnage | 118 |
Draft | 6.5 ft (2.0 m) |
Installed power | 70 h.p. |
Propulsion | 1 high pressure steam boiler, side paddle wheels |
Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) (cruising) |
Armament | 2 or 3 light cannons |
The CSS Spray was a steam-powered, side-paddle wheel tugboat built in New Albany, Indiana originally fitted as a mercantile ship before becoming a gunboat in the Confederate States Navy and used in the St. Marks, Newport, Florida area.
History
As the civilian Spray
In 1850, Daniel Ladd, a Newport, Florida cotton and general mercantile businessman, purchased the Spray for $15,000. The Spray operated as far south as Cedar Key, Florida, up the Apalachicola River to Columbus, Georgia, up the Suwannee River and west to New Orleans transporting cotton, naval stores, hides, tobacco, beeswax. It first sailed into St. Marks, Florida in 1850.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/USS_Mohawk_and_CSS_Spray.jpg/220px-USS_Mohawk_and_CSS_Spray.jpg)
As CSS Spray
As a confederate vessel and refitted, the Spray operated in the vicinity of the naval station at St. Marks during 1863–1865, and was the object of much attention by the Federal forces in that vicinity. On September 12, 1863, the captain of the USS Stars and Stripes reported an unsuccessful attack on the Spray up river on the St. Marks River. The CSS Spray was said to be the only Confederate States Navy vessel to operate exclusively in Florida waters.
In February 1864, Federal troops in two naval expeditions of 14 ships landed at St. Marks. Their mission was to capture Tallahassee, Florida, Fort Ward, Port Leon, and burn the nuisance gunboat CSS Spray.[2] The mission failed.
March 6, 1865, the crew of Spray participated in the Battle of Natural Bridge with a complement of 25 men.[3]
The Spray's fate is specious in that it was reported as burned/scuttled by Confederates on St. Marks River in a few accounts and yet survived into the early 20th century by the accounts of the Ladd family.[1]
Commanders
Henry Lewis was born in Virginia and appointed to the CSN from Virginia. He was formerly a lieutenant with the U.S. Navy. Lewis also commanded the CSS Rappahannock from 1862 to 1863 before taking command of the Spray in 1864.[5] [6]
References
- ^ a b "Ladd Family History". Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ^ De Quesada, A. M., A history of Florida forts: Florida's Lonely Outposts, History Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-59629-104-1]
- ^ Battle of Natural Bridge
- ^ "Muster Roll of the Confederate Steam Boat Spray". Archived from the original on 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ^ Library of Virginia, Military Records
- ^ Haze Gray: Naval History
Sources
- Gaines, W. Craig, Encyclopedia of Civil War shipwrecks, LSU Press, April 2008, ISBN 978-0-8071-3274-6
- v
- t
- e
- 3 Jan: Grafton
- 10 Jan: USS Iron Age
- 15 Jan: Lottie Sleigh
- 1 Feb: USS Smith-Briggs
- 2 Feb: USS Underwriter
- 17 Feb: USS Housatonic
- 17 Feb: H. L. Hunley
- 22 Feb: USS Linden
- 27 Feb: Westward Ho!
- 6 Mar: USS Peterhoff
- 21 Mar: USS Clifton
- 28 Mar: USS Kingfisher
- 1 Apr: Maple Leaf
- 15 Apr: USS Eastport
- 15 Apr: Emma
- 18 Apr: Bombshell
- 19 Apr: USS Southfield
- 22 Apr: USS Petrel
- 26 Apr: Homer
- 30 Apr: Grecian
- 5 May: USS Covington
- 5 May: USS Signal
- 6 May: USS Commodore Jones
- 7 May: CSS Roanoke
- 7 May: USS Shawsheen
- 10 May: Invercauld
- 16 May: John Williams
- 17 May: Marchioness
- 22 May: USS Columbine
- 1 Jun: Daring
- 12 Jun: USS Lavender
- 14 Jun: USS Courier
- 19 Jun: CSS Alabama
- 19 Jun: Alvin Clark
- 24 Jun: USS Queen City
- 27 Jun: Mary Robinson
- 25 Jul: USS Undine
- 5 Aug: CSS Gaines
- 5 Aug: USS Philippi
- 5 Aug: USS Tecumseh
- 7 Aug: CSS Phoenix
- 8 Aug: USS Violet
- 11 Aug: James Funk
- 11 Aug: William Bell
- 12 Aug: Adriatic
- 31 Aug: Mary Bowers
- c. Aug: Houqua
- 3 Sep: USS Brandywine
- 23 Sep: USS Antelope
- 27 Sep: CSS North Carolina
- 7 Oct: USS Aster
- 27 Oct: CSS Albemarle
- 4 Nov: USS Elfin
- 4 Nov: USS Key West
- 4 Nov: USS Tawah
- 4 Nov: USS Undine
- 5 Nov: CSS Spray
- 11 Nov: USS Tulip
- 28 Nov: CSS Florida
- 7 Dec: USS Narcissus
- 9 Dec: USS Bazely
- 9 Dec: USS Otsego
- 12 Dec: CSS Resolute
- 14 Dec: HMS Bombay
- 19 Dec: CSS Water Witch
- 21 Dec: CSS Georgia
- 21 Dec: CSS Isondiga
- 21 Dec: CSS Savannah
- 24 Dec: USS Louisiana
- 30 Dec: USS Annie
- 30 Dec: USS Rattler
- c. Dec: J. M. Chapman
- c. Dec: USS Monarch
- Unkn: Carolina
- Unkn: Duke of Roxburgh
- 17 Feb: USS St. Clair
- 10 May: USS Mound City
- 9 Jun: John Bowes
- Jun: HMS Liverpool
- 14 Jul: HDMS Dannebrog
- 13 Aug: HMS Enterprise
- 24 Aug: SMS Grille
- Aug: HMS Urgent
- 1 Sep: Avalon
- 1 Sep: HMS Eclipse
- 5 Oct: Nubia
- 7 Oct: CSS Florida (Bahia incident)
- 20 Oct: HMS Eclipse
- 20 Oct: Snaefell
- Unkn: Kingfisher