Talk:List of naval battles of the American Civil War

Naval Battles section

I am pasting in the current version of the "Naval battles" section - It seems a little bit choppy and puts too much detail on only a few battles, when those details would be better presented as parts of individual articles. Any thoughts on how we want this to ultimately appear in this article? Thanks KConWiki (talk) 17:05, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

Naval battles

One of the most important and famous naval battles of the Civil War was the clash of the ironclads, between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. The battle took place on March 8, 1862. The battle lasted for several hours and resulted in a tactical draw. Both ships were very well protected by thick armor plating, which prevented any lasting damage to either ship.

Another great naval battle that did not end well for the Union was in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865. This battle was very poorly carried out by the North. This is when the Union was sent to attack the Confederate army from sea to land. The Confederates held off the Union and made them retreat during this battle. Admiral Du Pont was sent with 9 ironclads to attack Charleston. When he was given the news, he did not expect to come out victorious from this battle. He would have to steer his ships up to the fort and stand still in order to attack Charleston. This gave the Confederates a valuable edge on the Union. The Union Naval Force was so vulnerable during this battle that within two hours they were forced to retreat from the attack in order to not receive too many casualties in one single battle. The result of this failed battle was that the Union would be blockaded for two more years. Also, the south had set up several forts alone the coast of South Carolina where they could easily attack the Union.

The sinking of the CSS Alabama by the USS Kearsarge was an intense naval battle that ended in the sinking of one of the best Confederate ships in its fleet. The Alabama fired the first shot. Soon after the Kearsarge shot back. Both of the ships had their main weapons and cannons on their starboard side (right side), therefore, both ships were fighting in a circular pattern. The Kearsarge was slightly faster, had more fire power, and a bigger crew than the Alabama. This gave the Union an advantage in this naval battle. The confederate ship had taken many shots and casualties and eventually began to sink. Once the south realized that they were slowly leaking, they tried to run back to shore. They did not make it very far. The water started rising quickly and shut off their engines. When this happened, the confederates had no other choice but to surrender. The remaining survivors were rescued by the Kearsarge. This was an important battle for the Union since it was towards the end of the Civil War.

References

Grammar/Writing Style

Numerous sections of this article need to be edited for grammar and for general writing style. A good portion of the article I have read seems to have been written by a fifth grader, and while it makes sense, needs to be translated into more sophisticated language. Please help if possible. Thanks!

Working on a copyedit now; it is frustratingly shallow to be sure. Do you think the section "Naval purpose," which I have renamed to "Significance," is even necessary in this article? It talks about everything the Navy did except the battles which are the focus of this article. I think the information is more suited for a page "Navies of the American Civil War"... if such a thing exists. Perhaps the section just needs to be renamed to something more appropriate. I'll take a second look at it when I'm done with the copyedit. —2macia22 (talk) 23:47, 15 July 2015 (UTC)

UPDATE: Reorganized. I hope the page feels more streamlined and encyclopedic while still portraying the same information. —2macia22 (talk) 00:22, 16 July 2015 (UTC)

Map of Naval encounters

Battle of Fort Sumter First Battle of Fort Sumter April 12-13, 1861 First shots of the naval war fired, first battle of the war Battle of Gloucester Point (1861) Battle of Gloucester Point May 7, 1861 First naval battle of the war Battle of Sewell's Point Battle of Sewell's Point May 18-18, 1861 Battle of Pig Point Battle of Pig Point June 5, 1861 Battle of Mathias Point Battle of Mathias Point June 27, 1861 Sinking of the Petrel July 28, 1861 One of the last naval battles in history involving a privateer ship Battle of Cockle Creek Battle of Cockle Creek October 5, 1861 Battle of the Head of Passes Battle of the Head of Passes October 12, 1861 First use of ironclad ram in the war Battle of Port Royal Battle of Port Royal November 7, 1861 First major naval battle of the war Battle of Cockpit Point Battle of Cockpit Point January 3, 1862 Battle of Lucas Bend Battle of Lucas Bend January 11, 1862 First battle involving Union ironclads in the war Battle of Fort Henry Battle of Fort Henry February 6, 1862 Battle of Elizabeth City Battle of Elizabeth City February 10, 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads Battle of Hampton Roads March 8-9, 1862 First naval battle between two ironclad warships Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip April 16-28, 1862 Led to the Union w:capture of New Orleans Battle of Island Number Ten Battle of Island Number Ten February 28 - April 8, 1862 First Confederate defeat on the Mississippi River Battle of Plum Point Bend Battle of Plum Point Bend May 10, 1862 First sinking of Union ironclads by Confederate River Defense Fleet Battle of Drewry's Bluff Battle of Drewry's Bluff May 15, 1862 Battle of Memphis Battle of Memphis June 6, 1862 Confederate River Defense Fleet destroyed by Union rams and ironclad gunboats Battle of Saint Charles Battle of Saint Charles June 17, 1862 Battle of Tampa Battle of Tampa June 30 - July 1, 1862 Battle of Corpus Christi Battle of Corpus Christi August 12-18, 1862 Battle of Galveston Harbor (1862) Battle of Galveston Harbor October 4, 1862 Joint Expedition Against Franklin Battle of Crumpler's Bluff October 3, 1862 Battle of Fort Hindman Battle of Fort Hindman January 9-11, 1863 Led to the largest surrender of Confederate troops west of the Mississippi River prior to the end of the war

Action off Galveston Light Battle off Galveston Lighthouse January 11, 1863 Battle of Fort McAllister (1863) Battle of Fort McAllister March 3, 1863 Yazoo Pass Expedition Battle of Fort Pemberton March 11, 1863 First Battle of Charleston Harbor First Battle of Charleston Harbor April 7, 1863 Battle of Wassaw Sound Battle of Wassaw Sound June 17, 1863 Battle of Portland Harbor Battle of Portland Harbor June 27, 1863 First Battle of Fort Wagner First Battle of Fort Wagner July 10-11, 1863 Second Battle of Fort Wagner Second Battle of Fort Wagner July 18, 1863 Second Battle of Charleston Harbor Second Battle of Charleston Harbor August 17-September, 1863 Second Battle of Sabine Pass Second Battle of Sabine Pass September 8, 1863 Most one-sided Confederate victory of the war Second Battle of Fort Sumter Second Battle of Fort Sumter September 9, 1863 Attack on USS New Ironsides Attack on USS New Ironsides October 5, 1863 CSS David CSS David becomes the first torpedo boat to make a successful attack on an enemy warship in combat Battle of Fort Brooke Battle of Fort Brooke October 16-18, 1863 Sinking of USS Housatonic Sinking of USS Housatonic February 17, 1864 H. L. Hunley (submarine) H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat Battle of Fort Pillow Battle of Fort Pillow April 12, 1864 Battle of Plymouth (1864) Battle of Plymouth April 17-20, 1864 Battle of Albemarle Sound Battle of Albemarle Sound May 5, 1864 Battle of Cherbourg (1864) Battle of Cherbourg June 19, 1864 Led to the sinking of the Confederate raider CSS Alabama Battle of Mobile Bay Battle of Albemarle Sound August 2-23, 1864 Greatest Union naval victory of the war Bahia Incident Bahia Incident October 7, 1864 Led to the capture of the Confederate raider CSS Florida, international incident with Brazil Capture of Plymouth Capture of Plymouth October 29-31, 1864 Jamesville Incident December 9, 1864 Second Battle of Fort Fisher Second Battle of Fort Fisher January 13-15, 1865 Largest amphibious assault of the war Battle of Trent's Reach Battle of Trent's Reach January 23-25, 1865 Final major naval battle of the war Blockade of the South April 19, 1861 1865 Part of the Anaconda Plan

As an experiment - I reworked this to fit into Wikipedia - much easier to do on Wikivoyage - Perhaps this kind of thing might be useful or not. -- Matroc (talk) 04:30, 26 October 2018 (UTC)