A few months ago, the good folks at the Historical Marker Database had a spotlight on the life and times of the CSS Nashville, which was sunk near Fort McAllister in Richmond Hill, near Savannah.
It was launched September 22, 1853. The US Mail Steamship Nashville entered Charleston Harbor, SC, April 12, 1861 as the war commenced and was "purchased by the Confederate Navy for $100,000, the first commissioned vessel in Confederate service and the first to fly the flag.
She entered Southampton, England, Nov. 21, 1861, after capturing and burning the Union ship Harvey Birch. After capturing another ship, its name was changed to Thomas A. Wragg, and it became a blockade-runner.
Later, the Nashville was renamed as the Privateer Rattlesnake. On Feb. 28, 1863, the Rattlesnake was trapped in the Ogeechee River by a sandbar at low tide by the USS Montauk, a monitor, and sunk.
The wreck lies 1200 yards from the fort where a marker is located. Salvaged 1960machinery from it is located next to it.
A Life on the High Seas. --B-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
