Editing CSS Virginia II (section)

{{short description|Confederate Navy steam-powered ironclad ship}}

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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=File:Virginia II (1864).jpg
|Ship caption=Harper's Weekly sketch of 11 February 1865 of CS Navy sortie 23 January 1865 on the James River; Ironclad at right is the CSS Virginia II; the wreck at the left is the CSS Navy Training Ship "Patrick Henry"
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=Confederate States
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Confederate States of America|naval}}
|Ship name=CSS ''Virginia II''
|Ship namesake=[[Virginia]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[William Arthur Graves]]
|Ship original cost=
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|Ship laid down=April 1862?
|Ship launched=June 29, 1863
|Ship sponsor=
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|Ship completed=
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|Ship commissioned=May 18, 1864
|Ship homeport=[[Richmond, Virginia]]
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|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Burned to prevent capture; remains partially raised and salvaged for scrap
|Ship notes=
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship length={{convert|197|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|47|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draft={{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=Steam engine
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|Ship complement=150 officers and men
|Ship armament=*1 × 11" Brooke smoothbore 
*1 × 8" Brooke rifle
*2 × 6.4" Brooke rifle
|Ship armor=sides 5", forward 6"
|Ship notes=
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'''CSS ''Virginia II''''' was a [[Confederate Navy]] steam-powered [[ironclad]] ram laid down in 1862 at the William Graves' shipyard in [[Richmond, Virginia]]. Acting Constructor William A. Graves, [[Confederate States Navy|CSN]], was the superintendent in charge of her construction. In order to conserve scarce iron plating, he ordered the ship's armored [[casemate]] shortened from the specifications given in [[John L. Porter]]'s original building plans; in addition, the ship's iron-plating, while six inches thick on the casemate's forward face, was reduced to five inches on her port, starboard, and aft faces. Due to the shortening of her casemate, the number of her cannon were reduced to a single 11" smoothbore, a single 8" rifle, and two 6.4" rifles.

The ''Virginia II'' was named after the more famous Confederate ironclad, {{ship|CSS|Virginia}}, also called the {{USS|Merrimack|1855|2}} because of the ship's origins as a Union frigate. The original ''Virginia'''s success at the [[Battle of Hampton Roads]] caused "gunboat associations" to emerge around the South, mainly driven by women; their efforts helped with the construction of the ''Virginia II''.<ref name="coski2">Coski, ''Capital Navy'', 82.</ref>