View source for CSS Rappahannock

{{distinguish|text=the Confederate side-wheel gunboat of the same name}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=CSSRappahannock.jpg
|Ship image size = 300px
|Ship caption=CSS ''Rappahannock''
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''Victor''
|Ship ordered=15 May 1855<ref name=RW>{{winfield}}</ref>
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Blackwall Yard|Money Wigram & Son]], [[Blackwall, London|Blackwall]]
|Ship original cost=£45,450<ref name=RW/>
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|Ship laid down=24 May 1855<ref name=RW/>
|Ship launched=2 November 1855<ref name=RW/>
|Ship commissioned=1 April 1856
|Ship fate=Sold to R. Gordon Coleman as ''Scylla'' in November 1863 and resold later the same month to the Confederacy
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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 ''Rappahannock''
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|Ship commissioned=November 1864
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|Ship decommissioned=April 1865
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|Ship fate=Turned over to United States
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass|Intrepid|gunvessel}}
|Ship tons burthen=868 <small>49/94</small> [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]<ref name=RW/>
|Ship length={{convert|200|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|pp]]<ref name=RW/>
|Ship beam={{convert|30|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=RW/>
|Ship hold depth={{convert|14|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=RW/>
|Ship sail plan=[[Barque]]
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|Ship power={{convert|1166|ihp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}<ref name=RW/>
|Ship propulsion=*2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine<ref name=RW/>
*Single screw
|Ship speed={{convert|11.6|kn|km/h}}<ref name=RW/>
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|Ship complement=100
|Ship armament=*''As built'' (HMS ''Victor''):
* 1 × [[68 pounder gun|68-pounder muzzle-loading rifle]]
* 4 × 32-pounder (25cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore guns
*''Later'':
* 1 × [[RBL 7 inch Armstrong gun|7-inch/110-pounder breech loader]]
* 1 × [[RBL 40 pounder Armstrong gun|40-pounder breech loader]]
* 4 × [[RBL 20 pounder Armstrong gun|20 pounder breech loaders]]<ref name=RW/>
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'''CSS''' '''''Rappahannock''''', a steam [[sloop-of-war]], was built at the [[Blackwall Yard]] on the [[River Thames]] by Money Wigram & Son in 1855 as an {{sclass|Intrepid|gunvessel}} for the [[Royal Navy]] and named '''HMS ''Victor'''''. Although a handsomely modeled vessel, numerous defects occasioned her sale in 1863. An agent of the [[Confederate States|Confederate States Government]] purchased her ostensibly for the [[China]] trade, but British authorities suspected she was destined to be a Confederate [[commerce raider]] and ordered her detention. Nevertheless, she succeeded in escaping from [[Sheerness]], [[England]], on November 24, with workmen still on board and only a token crew. Her [[Confederate States Navy]] officers joined in the [[English Channel]].

When he bought her from the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] through his secret agent on November 14, [[Commander]] [[Matthew F. Maury]] had intended ''Rappahannock'' to replace the [[cruiser]] {{ship|CSS|Georgia|cruiser|6}} and was about to transfer ''Georgia''{{'}}s guns to her. She was ideal for a cruiser &mdash; wooden-hulled and [[barque|bark-rigged]] with two engines and a lifting screw propeller.
[[File:The Confederate Screw-Steamer Rappahannock lying at Calais Pier - ILN 1863.jpg|thumb|The Confederate Screw-Steamer Rappahannock lying at Calais Pier, 1863]]
She was commissioned a Confederate [[man-of-war]] underway, but while passing out of the [[Thames Estuary]] her bearings burned out and she had to be taken across to [[Calais]] for repairs. There [[Lieutenant]] [[C. M. Fauntleroy]], CSN, was placed in command. Detained on various pretexts by the [[France|French Government]], ''Rappahannock'' never got to sea and was turned over to the [[United States]] at the close of the war.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DANFS}}

{{Intrepid class gunvessels}}
{{CSN Cruisers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappahannock}}
[[Category:Cruisers of the Confederate States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built by the Blackwall Yard]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Thames]]
[[Category:1857 ships]]
[[Category:Intrepid-class gunvessels|Victor]]