NANSEMOND ScGbt: t. 166; l. 106'; b. 21'; dph. 8'; dr. 5'; a. 2 8"; cl. HAMPTON CSS NANSEMOND was a small wooden steamer built at Norfolk, Va., in 1862, and assigned to duty with the James River Squadron under Flag Officer s. Barron, CSN. With Lt. J. Rutledge, CSN, in command, she sailed from Norfolk with the other vessels of the squadron on 4 May 1862, just prior to the evacuation of the navy yard. NANSEMOND continued on active duty in the James River until the end of the war. Her commander in November 1863, Lt. J. H. Rochelle, CSN, was relieved by Lt. C. W. Hays, CSN, sometime after March 1864. She took part in engagement at Howlett’s, Va., 21 June 1864, Dutch Gap, 14 August 1864, and Fort Harrison, 29 September-1 October 1864. Upon evacuation of Richmond on 3 April 1865 she was destroyed to preclude capture by the Union. NASHVILLE SwStr: t. 1,221; l. 215' 6"; b. 34' 6"; dph. 21' 9"; cpl. 40; a. 2 12-pdr.; cl. NASHVILLE CSS NASHVILLE was a brig-rigged, passenger steamer, running between New York and Charleston, S.C. After the fall of Fort Sumter the Confederates seized her at Charleston and fitted her out as a cruiser. Under the command of Lt. R. B. Pegram, CSN, she braved the blockade on 21 October 1861 and headed across the Atlantic to Southampton, England, the first ship of war to fly the Confederate flag in English waters. NASHVILLE returned to Beaufort, N.C., on 28 February 1862, having captured two prizes worth $66,000 during the cruise. In this interval she was sold for use as a blockade runner and renamed THOMAS L. WRAGG. On 5 November 1862 she was commissioned as the Page 552 privateer RATTLESNAKE [See Annex I]. Union forces destroyed her in the Ogeechee River, Ga., in February 1863. Irc Ram: l. 271'; b. 62' 6"; dph. 13'; dr. 10' 9"; a. 3 7" r., 1 24-pdr. CSS NASHVILLE was a large side-wheel steam sloop built by the Confederates at Montgomery, Ala., in 1864 and taken to Mobile for completion. Her first commander was Lt. C. C. Simms, CSN. Still fitting out, she took no part in the battle of Mobile Bay on 6 August 1864, but was one of the vessels formally surrendered by Commodore E. Farrand, CSN, at Nanna Hubba, Ala., on 10 May 1865. Although never finished, she had been heavily armored with triple 2-inch plating forward and around her pilot house, only a single thickness aft and there had been some doubts expressed that her builders might have overestimated her structural strength. Rear Adm. H. K. Thatcher, USN, wrote on 30 June 1866, after survey, "She was hogged when surrendered and is not strong enough to bear the weight of her full armor." He was certain "she could not live in a seaway." NASHVILLE was purchased by the Navy Department and sold at New Orleans, La., on 22 November 1867, her iron sheathing having been removed for naval use. NATCHEZ SwStr: t. 800; l. 273'; b. 38'; dph. 8' NATCHEZ, built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1860, was impressed by order of Comdr. I. N. Brown, CSN, for Confederate States service as a cotton-clad armed boat in the Yazoo River. NATCHEZ was burned by the Confederates in April 1863 in the Yazoo River near Burtonia, Miss., in order to avoid capture by the advancing gunboats of Admiral Porter's command. NEAFFIE, see NEAFIE NEAFIE SwStr: dr. 8'; cpl. 60; s. 6 k. NEAFIE, also spelled NEAFFIE, was an iron steamer which operated as a transport and tug in coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico during 1861. For part of the year she was under the command of Major Lovell, CSA. She sustained some damage during the action off Fort Pickens, Fla. on 22 November 1861, but managed to escape. By February 1863 she had been seized by the Union and was serving as a tug. NELMS Gbt NELMS, a steamboat present at the Navy Yard at Fort McRee, Fla., on 22 November 1861 when that site was taken under attack by Union forces. She proceeded safely to Pensacola remaining there until the evacuation of that port in March 1862. It was then suggested that she be run into Mobile Bay where she may have been lost. NELSON Str NELSON was anchored with DR. BEATTY in the Red River, La., when early in July 1863, news of the arrival of USS MANITOU and PETREL forced their hasty withdrawal to the fort at Harrisonburg, in the Ouachita River. NEPTUNE Str: a. 2 guns NEPTUNE, a wooden steamer, was seized by Col. E. B. Nichols for duty with Comdr. W. W. Hunter's Texas Marine Department. [See Annex III]. She operated as a tug lookout, and transport in coastal waters, especially in the Galveston area. On New Year's Day 1863, the Confederates, having determined to recapture Galveston which had fallen to the Union during the previous October, launched their attack. BAYOU CITY and NEPTUNE with their decks well protected by cotton bales and loaded with troops, moved down to engage the Federal fleet in the harbor. BAYOU CITY first closed with USS HARRIET LANE, one of two principal Union ships in the harbor, and tried to board her, but the strong tide swung the ships into a collision which damaged both. NEPTUNE, Capt. W. Sangster, then rammed the Federal gunboat but was herself injured by the impact and began to take water rapidly. Making for the edge of the channel she sank there in 8 feet of water. The ensuing capture of HARRIET LANE signaled a series of events which forced Union withdrawal and proved a mighty morale factor for the Confederates. NEUSE IrcRam: l. 152'; b. 34'; dr. 9'; a. 2 6.4" or 8" r.; type ALBEMARLE CSS NEUSE was a steam sloop built in 1863-64 for the Confederate Navy by Elliot Smith & Co. at Kinston, N.C., on the Neuse River. Launched in November 1863, NEUSE sailed in April 1864 for duty on the inland waters of North Carolina as part of the force under Comdr. R. F. Pinkney, CSN. Shortly thereafter she grounded off Kinston and remained fast until March 1866 when she was burned by the Confederates to escape capture by the Union army under Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, USA. NEW FALL CITY SwStr: t. 880; l. 301' 4"; b. 39' 9"; dph. 7' 7" NEW FALLS CITY was built in 1858 at Paducah, Ky. She lay near Coushatta Chute, La., on 18 March 1864 when ordered by Lieutenant General Smith, CSA, Department of Trans-Mississippi, to be towed to Scopern's Cut-off in Red River and held in readiness to be sunk as an obstruction upon approach of the Federals. It was suggested that her machinery be removed and her hull be filled with rock to make her more stable. [cf. OSCEOLA] NEW MERRIMACK, see RICHMOND NEW NATIONAL Str NEW NATIONAL, a transport, was seized by Union gunboats at Memphis on June 1862 after the withdrawal of the Confederate flotilla. NEW ORLEANS FltBtry: a. 17 8", 1 9", 2 32-pdr. r. CSS NEW ORLEANS was a floating battery fitted out at New Orleans, La., in 1861. She featured "two small boilers with pump connections," designed to repel boarders by drenching them with scalding water from her hoses. She deployed under Lt. S. W. Averett, CSN, in the Mississippi in time to assist joint army-navy opera- Page 553 tions at Island No. 10 and New Madrid, Mo., 12 March to 7 April 18&2. The final day of this engagement, the Confederates avoiding capture, sank NEW ORLEANS during the evacuation of Island No. 10. NINA SIMMES, see NINA SIMMS NINA SIMMS SwStr: t. 327; l. 177'; b. 33'; dph. 6' NINA SIMMS, spelled variously NINA SIMMES and NINA SIMS, was built at New Albany, Ind., in 1860 and operated out of New Orleans in 1861. She was placed under Army control and transported provisions on the Mississippi, principally in the Port Hudson, La., region. NINA SIMS, see NINA SIMMS NORFOLK ScGbt: dp. 166; l. 106'; b. 21'; dph. 8'; dr. 5'; a. 1 9", 1 32-pdr.; cl. HAMPTON NORFOLK was a sister to PORTSMOUTH, paralleling her progress in Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard. Both of these early "Maury Gunboats" were burned on the ways to escape capture by entering Federal forces, 10 May 1862. NORTH CAROLINA IrcSlp: l. 150'; b. 32'; dph. 14'; dr. 12'; cpl. 150; a. 4 guns; type RICHMOND CSS NORTH CAROLINA was built by Berry & Bros. at Wilmington, N.C., in 1863. She was placed in commission during the latter part of the year with Comdr. W. T. Muse, CSN, in command. Structurally weak and unable to cross the bar, she remained in Cape Fear River until 27 September 1864 when she developed a leak and sank, her hull riddled by teredos, off Smithville, where she had been serving as a guard ship. [cf. UNCLE BEN.] NORTH CAROLINA, see under TEXAS (corvette) NORTHAMPTON SwStr: t. 406 NORTHAMPTON was built in 1860 at Baltimore, Md. Under Captain Gibbs she was used by the Confederates as a cargo ship for military stores on the James River, Va. and purchased by the State of Virginia in June 1861 for direct ownership. The Confederates sank NORTHAMPTON in the latter part of 1862 as an obstruction below Drewry's Bluff on the James River, Va.