Statistics Of The C.S.S. Virginia

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Acquisition.--Seized by the Confederates in 1861 at Gosport Navy Yard and converted into an ironclad.

Description.--Screw ironclad ram.
Tonnage.--3,200 tons.
Dimensions.--Length 275'; beam, 38' 6"; depth, 27?'.
Draft.--Loaded, 22'; without coal or ballast, 19?'.
Speed.--About 9 knots
Engines.--Horizontal, back acting; two cylinders, 72" in diameter, 3' stroke.
Boilers.--4 Martin type boilers; average steam pressure, 18 lbs.
Battery.--March 11, 1862, 10 guns; May, 1862, 2 7-inch rifle pivots, 2 6-inch rifles and 6 9-inch Dahlgrens in broadside, 2 12-pounder howitzers on deck.

Crew Size: According to the personnel roster of the Virginia, she was manned by 160 Navy, and 28 Marines.

Disposition.--Run on shore near Craney Island and set on fire after being abandoned; she blew up at 4.58 a.m., May 11, 1862.

Remarks.--Formerly she was the U. S. S. Merrimack. March 8, 1862, she engaged and sunk the U. S. S. Cumberland by ramming and destroyed the Congress by fire. March 9, 1862, engaged the U. S. vessels Monitor, Minnesota, and St. Lawrence.
  
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