CSS McRae
CSS McRae, New Orleans, 1860
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| History | |
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 Mexico
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| Name: | Marqués de la Habana' |
| Namesake: | Marquis of Havana |
| Fate: | Captured by U.S. Navy 6 March 1860 |
| History | |
 Confederate States Navy
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| Name: | CSS McRae |
| Acquired: | 17 March 1861 |
| Commissioned: | March 1861 |
| Fate: | Scuttled 28 April 1862 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | Approx. 680 tons |
| Propulsion: | Single screw, single expansion steam engine |
| Sail plan: | Bark-rigged sloop; three masts |
| Armament: | One 9-inch (229-mm) smoothbore, six 32-pounder smoothbores, one 6-pounder rifle |
| Armor: | None |
CSS McRae was a Confederate gunboat that saw service during the American Civil War. Displacing around 680 tons, she was armed with one 9-inch (229-mm) smoothbore and six 32-pounder smoothbore cannon.
Originally operating as a rebel ship under the Mexican flag with the name Marqués de la Havana, the wooden sloop was captured as a pirate ship by the United States Navy sloop-of-war USS Saratoga during the Battle of Anton Lizardo on 6 March 1860. A construction plan authorizing the building of ten fast gunboats was funded by the Congress of the Confederate States on 15 March 1861. Recognizing that no yard could turn out the vessels fast enough, Confederate States Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory sent a commission to New Orleans, Louisiana, to convert existing steamers to commerce raiders. The Confederate States Navy purchased Marqués de la Havana at New Orleans on 17 March 1861, and duly fitted her out as CSS McRae as part of this plan. Extensive engine repairs prevented McRae from going to sea before the arrival of the Union blockading force.
Placed under the command of Lieutenant Thomas B. Huger, McRae served as part of Flag Officer George N. Hollins' defense of the lower reaches of the Mississippi River, and provided cover for blockade runners. This led to McRae seeing combat with the Union blockading force on 12 October 1861. McRae took part in the Battle of the Head of Passes as part of Hollins′ "mosquito fleet," driving the Union blockading forces from the Head of Passes in the Mississippi Delta.
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