CSS Baltic
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| CSS Baltic | |
|---|---|
Career | |
| Type and class | Ironclad ram |
| Authorized | 1859 |
| Shipyard | Southern Steamship Co |
| Keel laid | 1860 as a river tow boat |
| Launched | 1860 |
| Commissioned | 1862 as an ironclad |
| Fate | Broken up, 1864 Remains captured, May 10, 1865 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 186 feet |
| Beam | 38 feet |
| Draft | 6 feet 5 inches |
| Displacement | 624 tons |
| Propulsion | Steam engine Side paddlewheels |
| Speed | 5 knots |
| Armament | Two Dahlgren smoothbores Two 32-pounders Two smaller guns |
| Compliment | 86 officers and men |
CSS Baltic, an iron and cottonclad sidewheeler, was built in 1860 as a river tow boat, and belonged to the Southern Steamship Co. She was purchased by the State of Alabama, converted to an armored ram, and turned over to the Confederate States Navy in the middle of 1862. Her first commanding officer was Lt. J. D. Johnston, CSN.
Throughout the war Baltic operated in Mobile Bay and the Mobile, Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers. Reported unfit for service in February 1863, her sinking condition prevented her joining the defense of Mobile Bay in June 1864. She was dismantled by July 1864 and her armor transferred to CSS Nashville.
Baltic was captured at Nanna Hubba Bluff, Tombigbee River, Ala., on 10 May 1865, and sold to the U.S. Government on 31 December 1865.
Part of the text is incorporated from the United States Navy's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, a work in the public domain.
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