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Soley James Russell 2017-07-07Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .61 x 5.98l; .83 #File Name: 1331253357290 pagesThe Blockade and the Cruisers Classic Reprint
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. "Jules Verne" Naval Action in the Civil warBy MarkJ. Russell Soley; Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1890 to 1893; was approached by Scribners in 1883 to write this volume of the Naval trilogy for their Civil War series. He delivered a brisk; often thrilling; read that brings much understanding to the unique problems of the naval war.Soley starts by introducing the many "Jules Verne" wonder weapons of Civil War; some had been around but were tested in battle for the first time; while others were innovations of the war.Among these were the ram; a ship designed to ram and sink other ships (this was made possible by steam power); torpedo boats which "rammed" with a torpedo attached to a long spar protruding from the bow. Steam also allowed the total abandonment of naval sail tactics. It was possible to return to the tactics of ancient naval battles; when ships were driven by oarsmen rather than the wind. Ironclads were also made possible by steam. These had been tested in Britain and elsewhere; but the Civil War showed decisively that the age of sail was finished. There were endless other types of ships for specific purposes. The "double-ender" could use either end of the ship as the bow. If it became blocked in a narrow bayou or low river; instead of tediously "backing out' it simply used the other bow to exit."Torpedoes" (naval mines) came into their own. Again; these had been around; but the South was so weak in naval strength they designed increasingly effective ones torpedoes that bedeviled Union naval forces in rivers and harbors.The Dahlgren smooth bore could take a much higher charge to throw a cannon ball to great distance with greater impact. The Parrot guns were rifled cannon; the rifling put a spin on the projectile to stabilize it in flight for greater accuracy. On occasion these could knock some ironclads apart.The naval blockade of the Southern coast was rendered almost a game due to international rules for this. Though not a signatory bound by them; the U.S. found it prudent to respect them for sake of international relations. The first rule was that "paper" blockades were disallowed; you could not simply "declare" a blockade. There must be a viable blockading force in place. Even after accomplishing this; there follows a month's "grace period" for ships to learn of the blockade. Any commerce captured during this period had to be released with a warning.The South had a nasty habit of secretly building ironclads upriver in its ports. When some of the heavier U.S. blockading vessels left to re-coal; Confederate ironclads would dash from the harbor and attempt to break the blockade. Foreign observers were on hand to watch this. Obviously; any such break would be quickly closed by the Union. But upon reestablishing blockade; the Union would again have to allow a month's grace period for shipping to "learn" of this. The practice was so annoying that the North; in turn; responded with commando raids. The commandos would be put ashore; seek out the the ironclads up river; and destroy them by planting torpedoes or outright assault. There are thrilling stories of such adventures.Meanwhile the blockade runners were as colorful a bunch of misfits as you were likely to find anywhere. Most foreign commerce was delivered to Nassau; Cuba; and other such points. From there blockade runners took them into Charleston or Atlanta on the East Coast; or Galveston in Texas. About 83% made it; so it was viable and highly profitable.Perhaps the most aggravating trick was was pulled in Texas. Confederate cotton was taken across the Rio Grande into Mexico; and shipped to Europe from Matamoros. The Union was helpless and never really found a solution to this.Essentially the Confederacy had no blue water navy and thus no commerce. But England built them some first class commerce raiders. These stalked Union commerce in all the oceans of the world. Captain Semmes of the Alabama was most feared. He had down to an art how long it would take the Union to learn of his operations (say) off the coast of Africa. No matter how meticulous the planning; Union efforts invariable missed him by two or three days. While they made fruitless searches; he was sinking commerce in some other hunting ground.This book is an excellent introduction to its subsequent volumes; "The Atlantic Coast" and "The Gulf and Inland Waters." Not only do these books show you "how things worked" back then; but introduce some colorful characters and take you on many thrilling joy rides.5 stars from me for the whole shot.Because this series is public domain; there are many editions of various quality. The best edition I am personally aware of this book is by DSI Digital Scanning:[...]
