Carolina Ironclads: Vain Efforts to Defend The Tar Heel State

(Image credit: CSS Albemarle under construction at Edward's Ferry. From "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," 1887, pg. 648. Courtesy British Library.)

The loss of the North Carolina Sounds prompted the Confederate Navy to begin the construction of four ironclads on the Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers. These shallow draft ironclads would mount two rifled guns. Only one ship, CSS Albemarle, would help to recapture eastern river ports. The others faced various setbacks: one was destroyed during construction, one was unable to steam down river because of draft issues, and the other was destroyed when it ran aground. The Carolina Ironclad Building Program was hampered by time and iron. Presented by John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center.