The British-built
Confederate raider Florida was conceived in June of 1861
in the Liverpool shipyard of William C. Miller and Sons close to
her sibling, Alabama, also under construction. The
fledgling Confederate States Navy was no match for the powerful
U.S. Navy on equal terms. However, Stephen R. Mallory, Secretary
of the Navy, felt success lie in a force of fast, lightly armed
European built cruisers that could wreak havoc on Northern
commerce and alleviate the Northern blockade of Southern ports.
Although similar in construction to the Alabama, the Florida
had two stacks rather than one and was slightly smaller.
Originally named the Oreto in order to imply Italian
ownership and conceal her identity, she cleared for the
Mediterranean on March 22, 1862, with Captain James Duguid, a
British national, at the helm. In reality she headed to Nassau,
to rendezvous with the Bahama sailing from Scotland, to be
fitted with her armament and munitions. While anchored at Nassau,
the American consul, Samuel Whiting, adamantly protested the
presence of the Oreto, knowing full well what her intent
was. During her stay at Nassau, she was seized and boarded
several times, but was subsequently released after no violations
of neutrality laws were found. Unfortunately, the Bahama
sailed into Nassau harbor in the midst of these investigations.
In order to avoid the very likely confiscation of this needed
cargo of armament, they were quickly placed in a bonded dock-side
warehouse. With the arrival of Raphael Semmes a few days later to
undoubtedly take command of the Oreto, the game piqued.
However, a short time later Semmes and others departed for a
return trip to England (to eventually take command of the Alabama),
and with this the U.S. consul believed that the Confederacy were
abandoning all hopes of ever freeing the vessel. After the final
trial, no time was wasted in sneaking out of the harbor under the
cover of darkness. 75 miles north of Nassau, the Oreto
joined the Prince Albert, which had been dispatched to
pick up the guns and munitions from the warehouse, to receive her
six 6" and two 7" Blakely rifled guns and one
twelve-pound howitzer. With the addition of armament on August
17, 1862, she was commissioned as the CSS Florida, with
John Newland Maffit commanding.
Upon setting out on her first cruise, she did not get off to a
fortuitous start. The diminutive raider was plagued with a rash
of yellow fever stemming from the laborious task of offloading
armament during the blazing summer conditions. Several crew
members were incapacitated, including Maffit, during the weaning
days of August 1862. Furthermore, during the arming of the Florida,
equipment vital to the operation of her guns was forgotten,
leaving the raider defenseless. This led to the decision to steam
to Mobile, Alabama, through the Union blockade, in order to
receive the needed supplies. In an attempt to utilize the obvious
British lines of the Florida and deceive the Federal
blockade, the raider flew the British colors as she headed
towards Mobile Bay. Almost making it through unscathed, the luck
of the small steamer ran out as she was passing the Union
flagship Oneida. The ruse discovered, the Oneida
and the Winona gave chase and struck home with accurate
salvos, inflicting severe damage as the Confederate colors were
run up. Barely reaching Fort Morgan, she was forced to remain
close to four months to repair the damage. On January 16, 1863,
Maffit tempted fate again in running the blockade, seeking the
freedom of the open sea. This attempt was more successful as it
was commenced during the middle of the night, the Union ships
convinced that the outbound vessel was associated with the
blockade as she cruised confidently into the Gulf of Mexico.
The first half of 1863 saw the Florida working with her
sibling, the Alabama, between Brazil and western Africa.
She had a successful career on this cruise, hounding many federal
vessels such as the Tacony, the bark Lapwing, and
the Jacob Bell. The Jacob Bell, valued at
$2,000,000 and a major prize, was summarily burned and sent to
the bottom. Of the captured vessels, 6 were bonded as satellite
raiders, spawning a new breed to harass Union commerce; directly
or indirectly she captured 47 prizes during this first outing.
Needing repairs and a welcome rest, the Florida put in at
Brest, France on the 23rd of August, 1863, remaining there until
early February, 1864. During this respite, Lt. Charles Morris
relieved John Maffit as commander of the CSS Florida, due
to his continued bout with yellow fever. Avoiding Union warships
that were dispatched to sink her sistership, the Florida
slipped out towards the Atlantic on February 10th for her second
outing.
The hunting was not as lucrative this time out, though not
without its highlights. On the way to New England, 4 ships were
captured on July 10, including the Greenland and the mail
steamer Electric Spark. The acquisition of the Electric
Spark, turned out to be a double prize; information in secret
diplomatic correspondence undoubtedly yielded many secrets. After
a total of 13 captures, the Florida dropped anchor in the
neutral port of Bahia, Brazil on October 4, 1864.
Also anchored at Bahia was the Union warship Wachusett, a
sister ship of the Kearsarge, captained by Commander
Napoleon Collins. Commander Collins, frustrated by the
pro-southern application of neutrality, attempted to ram and sink
the Florida. After grazing her sides and unable to send
her to the bottom, Collins proceeded to capture the Florida
while many of her crew and officers, including Lt. Morris, were
ashore. The Wachusett, ignoring an enraged Brazilian
government, towed her off towards the Chesapeake Bay approaches
as a war prize.
November 24, 1864, found the Florida anchored at Hampton
Roads off Ft. Monroe, when she was struck by the steam transport Alliance,
carrying away her jibboom and figurehead, raking her side. She
was then towed up the James River off Newport News, close to
where the USS Cumberland was sunk two years prior, and
under the protection of the captured ironclad Atlanta.
Taking on copious amounts of water, pumps ran day and night to no
avail. On the night of November 28, a tug was brought alongside
to offload a crew to tend to the leaking ship; fifteen minutes
later, after two years of raiding throughout the Atlantic and
capturing 60 enemy vessels, the CSS Florida was resting on
the bottom of the James River.
In the wake of these events, there was great conjecture to the
exact details of her sinking. Rumors of conspiracy and sabotage
abounded. The apparent scuttling of the ship in order to rid
themselves of the evidence helped to support these theories. The
capture of the Florida from a neutral port was a great
embarrassment to the United States government, with protests
launched from many foreign governments and detailed by the
English press. Had the Florida not met her mysterious
demise, she would have most likely have been returned to Brazil,
and thus the Confederacy, in order to avoid any reparations. In
order to make amends, Captain Collins was court-martialed for the
violation of neutrality, though his actions were praised within
the United States Navy, and his career avoided any repercussions.
In an attempt to further bury the event, the remaining
Confederate crew imprisoned at Ft. Monroe were released under the
conditions that they leave the United States within 10 days. They
gladly made their way to England to join the rest of the crew
that sailed from Brazil, in order to help form the crew of the
Confederate ironclad Stonewall.
Generally overshadowed by the more well known Alabama, the
Florida possessed several state-of-the-art innovations and
made a name for herself nonetheless. Her funnels were
collapsible, allowing her to take the appearance of an innocent
sailship until close enough to raise steam and overpower her
intended victim. Her screw was capable of being raised into the
hull to reduce drag while under sail and conserving her precious
coal. Furthermore, the Florida was the first iron-hulled
ship to ever make a trans-Atlantic crossing, a feat that is often
overlooked.
Today the CSS Florida sits resides in 65 feet of water off Newport News in the turbid James River. Positively identified first in 1982, subsequent surveys and diving operations have revealed a great deal of information on the vessel and its current disposition, though the site has not received the attention it deserves. The site of the Florida, as well as that of the nearby USS Cumberland, are on the National Register of Historic Sites and are vehemently protected by the United States Navy. The two wrecks have been pummelled and pillaged extensively over the years by man, intentionally and unintentionally, and an FBI investigation in 1990 led to the seizure of numerous artifacts that were illegally collected.
Side scan sonar images from an April 1997 investigation conducted by AUE, illustrates the impact of erosion caused by human intervention. Severely beaten down and listing slightly to port with a wide debris field, the wreck beckons for attention. In the above image, the bow is to the right with the starboard side rising off the muddy bottom. The small engine stands off the bottom within the wreck, and a large object, perhaps a cannon, lies just off the bow.