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Posted on 07/09/2003 2:19:50 AM PDT by Radix
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Wednesday's weird warship, CSS Manassas
Manassas class Ironclad ram
Displacementt. 387 t.
Lenght. 143'
Beam. 33'
Draft. 17'
Complement. 36
Armament. 1 64-pdr. Dahlgren
CSS MANASSAS, formerly the steam propeller ENOCH TRAIN, was built at Medford, Mass., by J. O. Curtis in 1855. A New Orleans commission merchant, Capt. J. A. Stevenson, acquired her for use as a privateer and fitted her out at Algiers, La., as an ironclad ram of radically modern design. Covered with 1-inch iron plating, her hull projected only 2 feet above the water, and her plated top was convex causing cannon shot to glance off harmlessly. She was provided with sharp irons on her bow to stave holes through enemy vessels. Fast moving, lying low in the water and a difficult target, virtually bomb-proof, she looked like a floating cigar or egg shell and was described by Union intelligence as a "hellish machine."
Commissioned as a Confederate privateer on 12 September 1861 MANASSAS was seized soon afterwards by Flag Officer G. N. Hollins, CSN, for use in the lower Mississippi River. With Lieutenant A. F. Worley, CSN, in command she participated in Flag Officer Hollins' surprise attack on the Federal blockading squadron at Head of Passes, Mississippi River, on 12 October 1861. In the action MANASSAS violently rammed USS RICHMOND damaging her severely below the water line. MANASSAS, however, suffered the loss of her prow and smokestack and had her engines temporarily thrown out of gear from the impact. She managed to retire under heavy fire from USS PREBLE and RICHMOND whose shells glanced off her armor. Two months after this engagement MANASSAS was purchased for direct ownership by the Confederate Government.
Under Lieutenant Worley, MANASSAS joined the force of Capt. J. K. Mitchell, CSN, commanding Confederate naval forces in the lower Mississippi. She participated in the engagement of 24 April 1862 during which Flag Officer Farragut, USN, on his way to New Orleans, ran his fleet past the Confederate forts Jackson and St. Philip. In the action MANASSAS attempted to ram USS PENSACOLA which turned in time to avoid the blow and deliver a broadside at close range. MANASSAS then ran into murderous fire from the whole line of the Union fleet. She then charged USS MISSISSIPPI and delivered a long glancing blow on her hull, firing her only gun as she rammed. Next she rammed USS BROOKLYN, again firing her gun, and injuring her rather deeply, but not quite enough to be fatal.
After this action MANASSAS followed the Union fleet quietly for a while but as she drew closer MISSISSIPPI furiously turned on her. MANASSAS managed to dodge the blow but was run aground. Her crew escaped as MISSISSIPPI poured her heavy broadsides on the stranded Confederate vessel. Later MANASSAS slipped off the bank and drifted down the river in flames past the Union mortar flotilla. Comdr. D. D. Porter, USN, in command of the mortar boats, tried to save her as an engineering curiosity but MANASSAS exploded and immediately plunged under water.
Q: How do you keep a blonde busy all day?
A: Put her in a round room and tell her to sit in the corner.
A: Put her in a round room and tell her to sit in the corner.
You stop picking on me Tomkow! I am going to tell on you!! Long Cut, Tom is picking on me again.!!! :-)
Too funny, but oh so true. Why, why, why??
A blonde tried to sell her old car. She was having a lot of problems selling
it, because the car had 250,000 miles on it. One day, she told her problem
to a brunette she worked with at a salon.
The brunette told her, "There is a possibility to make the car easier to sell, but it's not legal."
"That doesn't matter," replied the blonde, "if I only can sell the car."
"Okay," said the brunette. "Here is the address of a friend of mine. He owns
a car repair shop. Tell him I sent you and he will turn the counter in your
car back to 50,000 miles. Then it should not be a problem to sell your car."
The following weekend, the blonde made the trip to the mechanic. About one
month after that, the brunette asked the blonde, "Did you sell your car?"
"No," replied the blonde, "why should I? It only has 50,000 miles on it."
"No," replied the blonde, "why should I? It only has 50,000 miles on it."
That's exactly the answer I would give. 
That's exactly the answer I would give.
That's exactly the answer I would give.
That's exactly the answer I would give.
That's exactly the answer I would give.
I LOVE it! Off to email.
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