The Ships of Rebel Raiders - The Ironclads

Rebel Raiders on the High Seas is a strategic game of the Civil War which focuses on the role of the navies on the rivers, along the coasts and on the oceans.  While most ships are represented by generic counters for Ironclads, Blockade Runners, Gunboats, Screw Sloops and, of course Raiders, there are cards and corresponding counters for many individual vessels.  This series presents those cards and offers a glimpse into the history of these storied ships.

Part III – Rebel Ironclads: CSS Ablemarle – “SEALS” vs. an  “Unsinkable Ram”

Though she bore only two guns – a pair of fine 6.4-inch Brooke Rifles mounted on pivots - the “unsinkable ram” CSS Ablemarle (CSN Card 75 in Rebel Raiders) was very well protected, with a thick bunker and iron shutters for her gun ports.  An officer aboard the USS Miami, one of a pair of double-ender Union gunboats the Rebel ironclad dueled on the Roanoke River in April 1864, reports firing over 30 shots at point-blank range into the armored beast – “but they had no effect on her.”   One of those shots was an explosive anti-personnel shell personally fired from the bow gun by USS Miami’s captain.  The shrapnel bounced off the armor and killed the Union officer.  His ship retired but its companion, USS Southfield, went down, holed by the CSS Ablemarle’s ram.   The ram then went on to support the Confederate ground attack to regain the town of Plymouth – the only such combined arms operation involving a Rebel ironclad in the war.

 A month later CSS Ablemarle broke out into the Sound for which she was named, only to be swarmed by six Union gunboats.  She took over 60 hits, but it was only when her smokestack was so badly damaged her engines could not draw oxygen that she turned back to Plymouth.  Fearful that she would emerge again, the Union developed a bold plan worthy of a WW2 commando raid or a modern SEAL team operation.

Lt. William Barker Cushing, renowned for several cutting-out expeditions (one of which had captured a Confederate general) developed a plan to plant a torpedo in her hull.  He and 15 men went up the Roanoke on the night of October 27, 1864 in a small cutter.  The guards on the ram spotted them and her gunners sank the cutter – but not before Cushing had planted his torpedo – which ripped a hole in the waterline “big enough to drive a wagon” through.

Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn 2)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we last left our plucky warriors, the South had taken Louisville and strengthened Wilmington, and had a fleet of Blockade Runners ready to race in to deliver their cargo…

Turn 2- August 1861

Although one Blockade Runner is caught, the rest scurry through to unload 16 VPs of cargo – truly an auspicious beginning to the Southern “happy time.”  (If the South can’t make the VP in these early turns, they never will). Confederate Batteries are placed in New Berne and Key West, an aptly named “key” port as it allows Blockade Runners from all directions a refuge – and is a short hop for in-and-out runs to the many nearby foreign ports. Four Blockade Runners and a Raider are built.

The North decides that despite the poor odds the Union will try to take Louisville:  even with the South rolling three dice (two for being Southern, one for the battery) vs. his one die, the first attack is a close run thing, but the Union loses by 1 and gives the South a VP.  Second attack, however, is a rout:  a difference of 5 on the dice – and a corresponding gain of 5 VP for the South.

Brandon takes this as corroborative evidence of his being correct in the initial assumption that attacking this early was not a good idea.   He spreads out some gunboats, sliding down the coast to set up the inshore blockade, with Screw Sloops in the outer blockade.  A thin line, but a lengthening lasso nevertheless, as there is now only one port on the entire Atlantic coast that does not have at least one Yankee ship in its Blockade Station.. 

Brandon plays Card 31 – John Dahlgren for free Screw Sloops and Yankee Guns – and builds 2 Ironclads and a gunboat.

To be continued…..

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.

Silly Ships of the Civil War: The “Double-Ender” Gunboat Design Pays Off

May 29, 1863

            Historical Event:  The “double-ender” gunboat USS Cimarron captured the Confederate blockade runner Evening Star as she tried to slip through the close-in blockade of Wassaw Sound, Georgia.   The “double-ender” sidewheel design incorporated a rudder at each end so the ship could go in either direction without having to turn around.  They were designed specifically for service in narrow inland waterways.

            The USS Cimarron was constructed in New Jersey and outfitted at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1862.  The 860-ton vessel could only make 10 knots, but carried a powerful arsenal of eight guns:  six 24-pound howitzers, one 9-inch smoothbore and one 100-pound rifle.  She participated in several engagements and caught three blockade runners during her service, the first of which was the ill-fated “Evening Star” she took as a prize on May 29, 1863.

            Game Connection:   The Confederate player relies on his Blockade Runners to bring in cargo that translates into badly-needed Victory Points.  These points are vital to Southern production, as they can be traded in for the additional ships, batteries, cards and counterattacks needed to match the growing industrial behemoth of the North.   Gunboats play a key role in making it more difficult for these ships to deliver the goods, as gunboats can stack up in the Blockade Stations, thus increasing the odds of intercepting the Rebel vessels as they try to enter and then leave Rebel ports.

USS Cimarron, courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center.