naval warfare
Published: 3/31/25
CSS Hunley Reconsidered
What happened to the crew of the Confederate submarine Hunley? A scientist offers his expert opinion.
Published: 3/3/25
Cleaning Ironclads
A look at the process used to clean the ironclad monitor-class warships that made up the Union's South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Published: 12/30/24
The Loss of the “Monitor”
Explore the tragic story of the USS Monitor's loss in a storm off Cape Hatteras through the first-hand account of seaman Francis B. Butts.
Published: 3/9/23
Eyewitness to the Battle of Hampton Roads
Read about the Battle of Hampton Roads through the eyes of Lieutenant Samuel Dana Green in a captivating letter to his parents.
Published: 8/25/21
Unlike Anything That Ever Floated (2021)
A solid introduction to the Battle of Hampton Roads.
Published: 12/23/20
Defending the Arteries of Rebellion (2020)
An examination of the Confederate attempt to defend the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Published: 7/25/20
An Infernal Machine
Read an article from Harper's Weekly about the discover of an "infernal machine," or mine, used against Union ships in the Potomac River.
Published: 7/22/20
In The Waves (2020)
A look at the scientifically based research project on the Confederate sub CSS Hunley.
Published: 2/5/20
British Blockade Runners in the American Civil War (2019)
A deep dive into the role of British blockade runners during the American Civil War.
Published: 1/8/20
“Our Little Monitor” (2018)
Discover the untold story of the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia in "Our Little Monitor," a captivating blend of maritime archaeology and historical research
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Published: 3/7/17
Battle of the Ironclads
Experience the historic Battle of the Ironclads: witness the clash between CSS Virginia and USS Monitor in 1862, a pivotal moment in naval warfare.
Published: 6/1/15
Trial of a Confederate Terrorist
John Yates Beall’s friends stirred up a hornet’s nest of protest over the death sentence he had been given by a military commission sitting on Governor’s Island in New York...
Published: 6/9/14
Hunter Davidson and the “Squib”
Hunter Davidson understood the Union Navy, having been in Federal service since 1841 as a teen-aged midshipman, a graduate of its Naval Academy and an instructor there, an officer who...
Published: 2/10/14
The Civil War on the Great Lakes
When President Jefferson Davis refused to sanction a plot to take the American Civil War to the Great Lakes in the winter of 1863, Confederate Navy Lieutenant Robert D. Minor...
Published: 12/2/13
“Destructionist and Capturer”
Navy Lieutenant W.T. Glassell was furious that his faithful service was being questioned when he landed in Philadelphia in early 1862. He was coming off a long tour that had...
Published: 9/30/13
The Civil War’s French Accent
In October 1862 during a wide-ranging meeting, the French Emperor Napoleon III asked Commissioner John Slidell why the Confederacy didn’t have a navy capable of breaking the blockade. The two...
Published: 10/8/12
The Myth of the H.L. Hunley’s Blue Lantern
When the Confederate H.L. Hunley engaged the USS Housatonic on February 17, 1864, she made history as the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. She also sparked one of...
Published: 10/1/12
The Consequences of Damning the Torpedoes
Rear Adm. David Farragut famously “damned the torpedoes” when he closed off the port of Mobile as a haven for blockade runners. But the Union navy’s and army’s final push...