Stonewall (1865)
CSS Stonewall, a 1390-ton ironclad ram, was built in Bordeaux, France, for the Confederate Navy. Embargoed by the French government in February 1864, prior to her launching, she was subsequently sold to Denmark. Upon completion of her construction in late 1864, the Danish government would not accept delivery and her builder secretly resold her to the Confederates.
Commissioned at sea as CSS Stonewall in January 1865, she attempted to obtain supplies in French waters, then sailed for Madeira, Azores, en route to America, where she was ordered to attack Federal naval forces and commercial shiping. Forced into Ferrol, Spain, by a storm, she was confronted by USS Niagara and USS Sacramento in March 1865. However, these wooden warships avoided action when the well-armed and armored Stonewall put to sea on 24 March. After calling at Lisbon, Portugal, the Confederate ironclad crossed the Atlantic, reaching Havana, Cuba, in May. As the Civil War had then ended, she was turned over to Spanish Authorities.
In July 1865, the Spanish delivered Stonewall to the United States Government. She was laid up at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., for the next two years, and then sold to Japan. In Japanese service, she was initially named Kôtetsu and, after 1871, Azuma.
This page features, or provides links to, all our views of the Confederate Navy ironclad ram Stonewall.
For more images of CSS Stonewall, see: CSS Stonewall -- At Washington, D.C., 1865-67
For views of this ship after she was sold to Japan, see:
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Photo #: NH 42861 CSS Stonewall (1865) At Ferrol, Spain, in March 1865. The original print is mounted on a carte de visite. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. |
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Photo #: NH 42862 CSS Stonewall (1865) At Ferrol, Spain, in March 1865. This is a heavily retouched version of Photo # NH 42861. Courtesy of Mr. J.S. Barron, 1937. The original photograph was given to him by his father, Commodore Samuel Barron, who served in Stonewall as a Lieutenant. |
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Photo #: NH 49900 CSS Stonewall (1865) Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 13 May 1865, depicting the ship departing Lisbon harbor, Portugal, en route across the Atlantic to the American coast, 28 March 1865. |
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Photo #: NH 57511 CSS Stonewall (1865) Wash drawing by Clary Ray, circa 1898. |
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Photo #: NH 61424 Ex-CSS Stonewall (1865) Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 3 February 1866 as part of a larger print entitled "The Iron-clad Navy of the United States. See Photo # NH 73986 for the complete print. |
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Photo #: NH 42257 Stonewall (Confederate ironclad ram, 1865) Photographed circa the later 1860s. Buildings in the background indicate that the view may have been taken in the Far East, after the ship had been sold to Japan. She was initially called Kotetsu in Japanese service and was later renamed Azuma. |
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For more images of CSS Stonewall, see: CSS Stonewall -- At Washington, D.C., 1865-67
For views of this ship after she was sold to Japan, see:
