Editing CSS Arkansas (section)

==Design and description==
[[File:Building the Arkansas.jpg|thumb|left|Building the ''Arkansas'']]
At the outset of the [[American Civil War]], the [[Confederate States of America]] had a lack of warships. Seeking to offset the Union's advantage in numbers through technology, [[Stephen R. Mallory]], the [[Confederate States Secretary of the Navy]], decided to build [[ironclad warship]]s.<ref name="Barnhart">Barnhart</ref> An experienced [[steamboat]] man from [[Memphis, Tennessee]], named John T. Shirley visited Mallory in mid-August 1861 and offered to build a pair of such ships to defend the middle portion of the [[Mississippi River]]. Acutely aware of the lack of Confederate naval facilities in the region able to build ironclads, Mallory and Shirley signed a contract for two ships, ''Arkansas'' and her [[sister ship]] CSS ''Tennessee'', at $76,920 each on August 24.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=33–36}} Neither Shirley nor his [[master builder]] Primus Emerson owned a facility suitable for building a ship, and none were available for use in Memphis. The pair ultimately settled on a riverfront site below the bluff on which [[Fort Pickering (Memphis, Tennessee)|Fort Pickering]] sat on the southern edge of Memphis{{sfn|Smith|2011|p=38}} where ''Arkansas'' was [[laid down]] in October 1861.{{sfn|Marcello|2016}}

Shirley consulted with [[naval architect]] [[John L. Porter]] and gun designer [[John M. Brooke]] during his trip and their views greatly influenced the design. Unlike virtually every other Confederate ironclad, the ''Arkansas''-class ships were built with a traditional [[keel]]ed-[[hull (watercraft)|hull]] design with vertical sides to their [[casemate]]s, probably to improve their [[seakeeping]] abilities in the [[Gulf of Mexico]].{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=34–35, 42–43}} The ships measured {{convert|165|ft|m|1}} [[Length between perpendiculars|between perpendicular]]s, had a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|35|ft|m|1}},{{sfn|Silverstone|2006|p=150}} and a [[depth of hold]] of {{convert|12|ft|m|1}}.{{sfn|Bisbee|2018|p=70}} As designed they would have [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] about {{convert|1200|LT|t|lk=on}} and had a [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|11.5|ft|m|1}}.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=52, 69}} They were equipped with a pair of [[Marine steam engine#Direct acting|horizontal, direct-acting steam engines]], each driving one propeller using steam provided by four [[coal]]-burning, high-pressure [[boiler]]s, although two additional boilers were added to ''Arkansas'' while she was under construction. The ship had a maximum speed of {{convert|8|mph|lk=in}} in still water, but mechanical problems reduced that speed considerably in service.{{sfn|Bisbee|2018|pp=70–73}}{{sfn|Silverstone|2006|p=150}} The boiler combustion gases exhausted through a single [[funnel (ship)|funnel]] {{convert|7|ft|m|1|spell=in}} in diameter made from thin iron plates. Although the amount of coal storage aboard the ships is unknown, ''Arkansas'' demonstrated a range in excess of {{convert|300|mi}} during her brief career.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=111–112}}

The ''Arkansas''-class ships were equipped with a pointed [[cast-iron]] [[naval ram|ram]] that was bolted to their [[bow (ship)|bow]]s at or just below the [[waterline]]. They were designed to mount four guns, two on each [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]], but ''Arkansas'' was modified while under construction to accommodate 10 guns, three on each broadside and two each on the fore and aft faces of the casemate. Sources differ as to the exact numbers of each type, but the ship was armed with two {{convert|8|in|mm|adj=on|0}} 64-pounder [[Columbiad]]s in the front face of the casemate and a pair of {{convert|6.4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} 32-pounder [[smoothbore gun]]s converted to be [[rifled artillery|rifled cannons]] in the aft face while the broadside armament consisted of two {{convert|9|in|mm|adj=on|0}} [[Dahlgren gun]]s and four 32-pounders of which at least two had been rifled, according to naval historian Myron J. Smith.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=52, 54, 101–102}}{{efn|The exact nature of the cannons varies between sources. After the war Lieutenant George W. Gift, commander of the forward guns, stated that the weapons were two 8-inch Columbiads, a pair of 9-inch Dahlgren guns, an 8-inch "shell gun", a 32-pounder smoothbore gun, and four rifled 32 pounders. Commander Isaac Brown, the ship's captain, enumerated them as two 8-inch 64-pounders, two rifled 32-pounders, four 100-pounder Columbiads, and two {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on|0}} rifled guns.{{sfn|Gosnell|1949|pp=106{{en dash}}107}} Lieutenant Charles Read, commander of the ship's aft guns wrote that the ship was armed with two Columbiads, two Dahlgrens, four rifled and two smoothbore 32 pounders. Gift's assistant, [[Master's Mate]] John Wilson, matched Read's recollection in his contemporaneous diary.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=101–102}}}} The side [[Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#gunport|gun ports]] allowed the guns there to [[Traverse (gunnery)|traverse]] somewhat, but the oval gun ports on the fore and aft faces of the casemate were very narrow which badly restricted those guns' ability to traverse and severely limited the ability of the gun crews to see their targets.{{sfn|Smith|2011|p=97}}

The vertical sides of the sisters' casemates were constructed from oak logs {{convert|2|ft|cm|0|spell=in}} thick{{sfn|Smith|2011|p=52}} while the fore and aft faces of the casemate sloped at a 35° angle from the horizontal{{sfn|Holcombe|1997|p=53}} and were built from {{convert|12|in|mm|0|adj=mid|-thick}} oak squares to which were nailed oak planks {{convert|6|in|mm|0|spell=in}} inches thick. Behind the sides of the casemate was a layer of compressed cotton, possibly {{convert|20|in|0}} deep, backed by a wooden [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkhead]] between each gun port. ''Arkansas'' was intended to be armored with rolled iron plates, but the only delivery of such plates was diverted to the ironclad {{ship|CSS|Eastport}} which was much further along in construction. Instead ''Arkansas'' used [[Rail profile#Flanged T rail|railroad T-shaped-rails]], possibly {{convert|4|in|mm|0}} deep, alternating top and bottom to present a relatively smooth surface. The [[pilothouse]] protruded {{convert|1|or|2|ft|m|spell=in}} above the top of the casemate and was protected by two layers of {{convert|1|in|mm|adj=on}} [[bar iron]]. The visibility of the [[Maritime pilot|pilot]] was badly restricted by the narrow slits cut in the sides of the pilothouse. The casemate roof was minimally protected by {{convert|0.5|in|mm|0}} of [[wrought iron]] boiler plate and the [[deck (ship)|deck]] fore and aft of the casemate was unarmored. A shortage of rails meant that the stern face of the casemate was only protected by boiler plates. The broadside gun ports were protected by hinged iron shutters divided into upper and lower halves, but the fore and aft gun ports were fitted with iron collars into which the gun fit when firing.{{sfn|Smith|2011|pp=42, 52, 59–60, 97–100, 103}} [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] [[William F. Lynch]], commander of Confederate naval forces in the region, described ''Arkansas'' as inferior to the ironclad {{ship|CSS|Virginia}} and criticized the quality and construction of the ship's armor and smokestack.<ref name="Barnhart" />