CSS Arkansas

A drawing of C. S. S. Arkansas by R. G. Skerrett
History
Confederate States
Name	Arkansas
Namesake	State of Arkansas
Ordered	August 24, 1861
Builder	John T. Shirley, Memphis, Tennessee
Laid down	October 1861
Launched	April 1862
Commissioned	April 25, 1862
Fate	Destroyed by her crew, August 6, 1862
General characteristics
Class and type	Arkansas-class ironclad
Displacement	1,200 long tons (1,200 t) (designed)
Length	165 ft (50.3 m)
Beam	35 ft (10.7 m)
Draft	11.5 ft (3.5 m) (designed)
Installed power	6 boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 direct-acting steam engines
Speed	8 mph (7.0 kn)
Complement	232 officers and men
Armament	Ram 2 × 8 in (203 mm) Columbiad smoothbores 4–5 × 6.4 in (163 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns 2 × 9 in (229 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns 1–2 × 32-pdr smoothbores
Armor	Casemate: Railroad iron over wood and compressed cotton Pilothouse: 2 in (51 mm) Casemate roof: 0.5 in (13 mm) Casemate stern: Thin iron sheets

CSS Arkansas was the lead ship of her class of two casemate ironclads built for the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Completed in 1862, she saw combat in the Western Theater when she steamed through a United States Navy fleet at Vicksburg in July. Arkansas was set on fire and destroyed by her crew after her engines broke down several weeks later. Her remains lie under a levee above Baton Rouge, Louisiana at 30°29′14″N 91°12′5″W / 30.48722°N 91.20139°W / 30.48722; -91.20139.