Confederate Gunboat

In late 1860, neither side had a real navy. The South commanded no ships, and the North only had three or four ships immediately available. Most of it’s navy was in foreign waters. So ,when Lincoln called for a blockade to the South, the navy scrambled to enlist civilian ships to help with this dilemma. Both armies often used gun boats to press actions in the Mississippi river and in other rivers. They were mostly used in Western theatres and would sometimes coordinate with the army. They were normally civilian boats of various design that were bought by the army and had guns and sometimes bits of armor. They were often steamers or river boats. Though they were often used to attack forts, they also protected supply boats from ambushes. Facing not only other gunboats but ironclads, ironclads being very resistant to the fire of shot and shells, many confederate gun boats and ironclads also featured a ram, intended to capsize or pierce the vessel below the waterline. Many ships and even ironclads still had a wooden bottom, making easier work for the ram, though this was more the case in Confederate ironclads. The ram had more or less success with the Confederates ships usually having weak engines and maneuverability, but rams were much cheaper than guns and added significant value to the vessel.

Information

Attacks (damage × count)

heavy shot

impact

8 × 4

ranged

(no counter-attack)

Resistances

	blade	0%			pierce	20%
	impact	20%			fire	0%
	cold	0%			arcane	60%