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Talk:List of naval battles of the American Civil War

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DateProcessResult
July 8, 2010WikiProject peer reviewReviewed
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I am pasting in the current version of the "Naval battles" section - It seems a little bit choppy and puts too much detail on only a few battles, when those details would be better presented as parts of individual articles. Any thoughts on how we want this to ultimately appear in this article? Thanks KConWiki (talk) 17:05, 5 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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One of the most important and famous naval battles of the Civil War was the clash of the ironclads, between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. The battle took place on March 8, 1862. The battle lasted for several hours and resulted in a tactical draw. Both ships were very well protected by thick armor plating, which prevented any lasting damage to either ship.

Another great naval battle that did not end well for the Union was in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865. This battle was very poorly carried out by the North. This is when the Union was sent to attack the Confederate army from sea to land. The Confederates held off the Union and made them retreat during this battle. Admiral Du Pont was sent with 9 ironclads to attack Charleston. When he was given the news, he did not expect to come out victorious from this battle. He would have to steer his ships up to the fort and stand still in order to attack Charleston. This gave the Confederates a valuable edge on the Union. The Union Naval Force was so vulnerable during this battle that within two hours they were forced to retreat from the attack in order to not receive too many casualties in one single battle. The result of this failed battle was that the Union would be blockaded for two more years. Also, the south had set up several forts alone the coast of South Carolina where they could easily attack the Union.[1]

The sinking of the CSS Alabama by the USS Kearsarge was an intense naval battle that ended in the sinking of one of the best Confederate ships in its fleet. The Alabama fired the first shot. Soon after the Kearsarge shot back. Both of the ships had their main weapons and cannons on their starboard side (right side), therefore, both ships were fighting in a circular pattern. The Kearsarge was slightly faster, had more fire power, and a bigger crew than the Alabama. This gave the Union an advantage in this naval battle. The confederate ship had taken many shots and casualties and eventually began to sink. Once the south realized that they were slowly leaking, they tried to run back to shore. They did not make it very far. The water started rising quickly and shut off their engines. When this happened, the confederates had no other choice but to surrender. The remaining survivors were rescued by the Kearsarge. This was an important battle for the Union since it was towards the end of the Civil War.[2]

References

  1. ^ Hearn, Chester. (2000). Rebels and Yankees: Naval Battles of the American Civil War. California: Thunder Bay Press
  2. ^ Naval History and Heritage Command (2008). USS Kearsarge vs. CSS Alabama 19 June 1864. Retrieved from: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/civilwar/cw-cru/kear-ala.htm

Grammar/Writing Style

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Numerous sections of this article need to be edited for grammar and for general writing style. A good portion of the article I have read seems to have been written by a fifth grader, and while it makes sense, needs to be translated into more sophisticated language. Please help if possible. Thanks!

Working on a copyedit now; it is frustratingly shallow to be sure. Do you think the section "Naval purpose," which I have renamed to "Significance," is even necessary in this article? It talks about everything the Navy did except the battles which are the focus of this article. I think the information is more suited for a page "Navies of the American Civil War"... if such a thing exists. Perhaps the section just needs to be renamed to something more appropriate. I'll take a second look at it when I'm done with the copyedit. —2macia22 (talk) 23:47, 15 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
UPDATE: Reorganized. I hope the page feels more streamlined and encyclopedic while still portraying the same information. —2macia22 (talk) 00:22, 16 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Map of Naval encounters

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Map
Battles of the American Civil War - Naval Encounters
As an experiment - I reworked this to fit into Wikipedia - much easier to do on Wikivoyage - Perhaps this kind of thing might be useful or not. -- Matroc (talk) 04:30, 26 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]