Brassey's drawings

I first saw the old Brassey's (The Naval Annual) back in the mid-1960's. I had already seen the older Jane's, and I was amazed at the variation in quality of the ship drawings. They range from having been drawn from original plans, and showing accurate bulkheads and machinery positions to crude diagrammatic representations that are not to any scale. In the 1894 Brassey's, the ships named there as "Catherine II", "Tchesma", and "Sinope" have an accurate inboard profile and plan view. Just before, there is a crude diagram for the ship called there "Admiral Nachimoff" (drawings 63 and 64).

The paddle frigate Mississippi

The American paddle frigate Mississippi was a historic ship that came to a bad end in 1863. The Mississippi had been Matthew Perry's flagship when he forced the Japanese to open their country to the west. He had personally supervised her completion and fitting out and used his as his flagship. The Mississippi had played a role in the war with Mexico and then had gone to the Far East. She was laid up when the Civil War started. She was obsolescent in 1861, but was used in the capture of New Orleans in 1862, where she disabled the Confederate ram Manassas. Because of her low speed and paddle wheels, she was relegated to the Mississippi river. She was scuttled in 1863 during the attempt to push past Port Hudson. The Mississippi had run aground, under heavy fire, and couldn't be freed. She was burnt after her guns were spiked to keep her from being captured. An interesting note is that George Dewey, the victor of Manilla Bay in 1898, was her executive officer at the time of her loss. This is my enhancement of the photograph from 1863, when she was painted wartime gray.

The Chinese belted cruiser Lai Yuan

The Lai Yuan was sunk at Wei-Hai-Wei on 5 February 1895 after being torpedoed by a Japanese torpedo boat Kotaka. The Lai Yuan was a steel cruiser with compound armour. The Lai Yuan was nominally 2,850 tons with dimensions of 270ft x 40ft x 16ft-6in. The compound belt was 9.5in thick with a 3in deck. The armament consisted of 2-8.2in 10 ton BLR, 2-6in 4 ton BLR, and 7 MG.

The CSS Sumter

The Confederate raider Sumter had a short but successful career as a cruiser. The Sumter was purchased in New Orleans in April 1861 and was modified to carry an armament. She was originally armed with 1-8in shell gun and 4-32pdr MLSB guns. She had been built in 1869 in Philidelphia as the Havana. She was capable of between 9 and 10 knots. She was sold in 1862 after being chased by the USS Iroquois into Spanish waters.

The American sloop Brooklyn

The American sloop Brooklyn was a veteran of many of the major Civil war battles. The Brooklyn was built in 1858 and served until 1891. She was a wooden screw sloop of 2532 tons. She was 233ft x 43ft x 16ft and was armed with 1-10in MLSB, 20-9in MLSB. She could reach a speed of 11 knots under power. The Brooklyn served in the Gulf of Mexico blockading squadron and fought in the capture of New Orleans in 1862 and in the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864.

More about the Wampanoag

This is my updated Wampanoag photograph (edited). I had decided that the original photograph that I have found seemed defective, as if it had been retouched or digitally altered in some way that created multiple waterlines, different foward from aft. I have fixed that problem. I also found some interesting insight into the design. The ships were originally intended for use in stopping the fast, British-built blockade-runners that could reach 17 knots. Internal naval politics, principally by David Dixon Porter, ensured that the construction was halted at the critical period. By the time that they were finished, the U.S. Navy no longer had any use for the ships. They used old technology boilers and engines, except for the gearing to increase the propellor speed. That meant that they had a very short range, due to their high coal consumption. Still, the Wampanoag set a speed record that held for several decades.

The Wampanoag

The Wampanoag was built as a fast cruiser, but with engines that were not sufficiently advanced. As a result, the hull was too weak and the engines too large and heavy. Still, the Wapanoag is said to have achieved 17.75 knots in a trial condition. The Wapanoag was 335ft x 44ft-4in x 18ft-6in and displaced about 4,215 tons. The Wampanoag was eventually renamed Florida. These ships were still classed as screw frigates in the U.S.Navy when they were built. Aside from their other faults, these ships only had guns lacked bow fire, which was regrettable for a commerce raider.