| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Confederate States of America | |
| Name | Manassas; originally Enoch Train |
| Namesake | Battle of First Manassas; Enoch Train |
| Owner | Boston Steam Tow-Boat Co.[1] |
| Builder | James. O. Curtis, Medford, Massachusetts[1] |
| Launched | 1853[1] or 1855 |
| Commissioned | September 12, 1861 |
| Decommissioned | April 24, 1862 |
| Fate | Sunk in battle April 24, 1862 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Steam tug,[1] Ironclad |
| Displacement | 387 tons |
| Tons burthen | 384+1⁄2 tons[1] |
| Length | 143 ft (44 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam engine |
| Complement | 36 officers and men |
| Armament | One 64-pounder Dahlgren, later replaced by one 32-pounder |
CSS Manassas, formerly the steam icebreaker Enoch Train, was built in 1855 by James O. Curtis as a twin-screw towboat at Medford, Massachusetts. A New Orleans commission merchant, Captain John A. Stevenson, acquired her for use as a privateer after she was captured by another privateer (later gunboat) CSS Ivy. Her fitting out as Manassas was completed at Algiers, Louisiana; her conversion to a ram of a radically modern design made her the first ironclad ship built for the Confederacy.