CSS Louisiana

CSS Louisiana on the way to Fort St. Philip
History
Confederate States of America
Name:	Louisiana
Namesake:	State of Louisiana
Ordered:	October 1861
Laid down:	c. 15 October 1862
Launched:	6 February 1862
Commissioned:	20 April 1862
Fate:	Set afire by her crew to avoid capture; drifted down Mississippi River, exploded near Fort St. Philip on 28 April 1862
General characteristics
Displacement:	1,400 tons
Length:	264 ft (80 m)
Beam:	62 ft (19 m)
Draft:	12 - 13 feet (3.66 - 3.96 m)
Complement:	300 crewmen
Armament:	2 × 7 in. (178 mm) Brooke rifles, 4 × 8 in. (203 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns, 3 × 9in.(228mm)guns. Seven 32-pounder guns

2 × 7 in. (178 mm) Brooke rifles, 4 × 8 in. (203 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns,

CSS Louisiana was a casemate ironclad of the Confederate States Navy built to aid in defending the lower Mississippi River from invasion by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She took part in one major action of the war, the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and when that ended disastrously for the Confederacy, she was destroyed by her crew.

Louisiana was laid down in mid-October 1861 by E.C. Murray in a new shipyard just north of New Orleans. The ship had two paddlewheels and two screws, each driven by its own engine. The paddlewheels were mounted one abaft the other in a center well. The screws were not intended for propulsion, but were to aid the two rudders in steering in the confined waters and unpredictable currents of the Mississippi. The engines were taken from steamer Ingomar, but two months were needed for their transfer. The casemate extended her full length, less 25 feet at each end. It was covered by T-rail iron in two courses, while its top was encompassed by sheet iron bulwarks nearly four feet high.

Construction was delayed by several circumstances. First was the lack of materials, particularly iron. Always in short supply in the Confederacy, its procurement was made even more difficult by the blockade and by Army demands on the overstrained railroads of the South. The blockade also negated efforts to bring in needed light oak from Florida, forcing the builders to find alternative sources. Labor troubles led to a strike that lost about a week. Even more time was lost to demands of the local militia, which called out the workers for drills, including parades. Competition for skilled workmen with the builders of CSS Mississippi, an ironclad being built in an adjacent shipyard by Nelson and Asa Tift, also slowed down construction, until Murray and the Tifts agreed to let Louisiana have first call on the labor force; Mississippi would go forward only when work on Louisiana was halted for some other reason. She was not ready to launch until 6 February 1862, nearly four months after the keel was laid.