Home   Ships   Weapons   Shipyards   Newsletters   Forums   Contact  Awards  

CSS David, a 50-foot steam torpedo boat of "cigar-shaped" hull design, was privately built at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863 under the supervision of David C. Ebaugh. After being taken over by the Confederate States Navy, she made a daring spar torpedo attack on the Federal ironclad New Ironsides on the night of 5 October 1863. The Union ship was damaged, though able to remain on station, and David was nearly lost when the splash from her torpedo's explosion swamped her powerplant. However, her engineer was able to get her underway, allowing her to escape back to Charleston.

David attacked the Federal gunboat Memphis in March 1864 and the frigate Wabash on 18 April of that year. As a result of her actions, several similar torpedo boats were begun at Charleston in 1864-65, with a few of them entering service. Some "David" type craft were captured when the city fell to Union forces in Febuary 1865, along with a considerably larger steamship based on her hull form. It is possible that the original David was among them.

Home   Ships   Weapons   Shipyards   Newsletters   Forums   Contact   Awards 

Site owned and operated by CSA Media       Copyright 2005