CSS Webb
CSS Webb, a 655-ton side-wheel steam ram, was originally built in New York City in 1856 as the civilian steamship William H. Webb. She received a Confederate privateer's commission at New Orleans in May 1861, but was instead employed as a transport until January 1862. Converted to a "cotton clad" ram by the Confederate Army, thereafter served on the Mississippi and Red Rivers. On February 24, 1863, under the command of Captain Charles Pierce, she participated in the sinking of the Federal ironclad . Webb was transferred to the Confederate Navy in early 1865. On April 23–24, 1865, under the command of Charles S. Read, Webb broke through the Federal blockade at the mouth of the Red River, Louisiana, and made a dramatic run down the Mississippi toward the Gulf of Mexico. After eluding several United States Navy vessels and passing New Orleans, she was confronted by the powerful steam sloop . Rather than face the veteran ship's broadside, the Webb was run ashore and destroyed by her crew. See also Blockade runners of the American Civil War List of ships of the Confederate States Navy Confederate River Defense Fleet Mississippi River campaigns Red River Campaign References Sources - Cottonclad rams of the Confederate States Navy 1856 ships Ships built by William H. Webb Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River Maritime incidents in April 1865