Fanny being attacked at Chicamacomico by CSS Raleigh, CSS Curlew, and CSS Junaluska. Harper's Weekly
| |
History | |
---|---|
Name | Fanny |
Launched | ? |
Commissioned | 1861 |
Fate | Burned on February 10, 1862 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Steam tug gunboat |
Displacement | ? |
Length | ? |
Beam | ? |
Draft | ? |
Propulsion | Steam engine powering 1 propeller |
Speed | ? |
Complement | 49 |
Armament | 1 × 32-pounder (4.62-inch) Sawyer rifle (bow), 1 × 8-pounder rifled cannon (stern) |
CSS Fanny was a small propeller-driven steam tug used by the Confederate States Navy to defend the sounds of northeastern North Carolina in the American Civil War. Originally armed as a gunboat and operated by the Union, she was captured in October 1861 by the Confederate Navy, and later lost at the Battle of Elizabeth City in February 1862. Due to being used as an observation balloon platform, Fanny is sometimes credited with being the first self-propelled aircraft carrier.[1]