Combat· American Civil War
Charleston Ironclad Attack
A sharp Confederate blow against the blockading fleet off Charleston.
Before dawn on 31 January 1863 two Confederate ironclad rams eased out of the harbor and fell upon the wooden ships of the blockade. One ram crippled the Mercedita, which struck her colors; the second attacked the Keystone State, leaving her dead in the water and badly cut up. The Keystone State's loss was heavy: twenty of her crew were killed, eight of them Marines, who had been serving her guns when the ironclad's fire raked the ship. The raid was a tactical success for the Confederates, who claimed for a moment to have broken the blockade, but it produced no lasting change; the Union ships were repaired or replaced and the blockade held. The action was a reminder that the Southern ironclads, though few, could still strike dangerous blows at the wooden vessels that ringed the coast.
Podcast episodes on American Civil War
Record no. 418