Back in September of '98, I had an opportunity to travel to Columbus, GA, and visit The Confederate Naval Museum located there. This place is well worth the visit. Featured are the remains of two Confederate warships -- the casemate ironclad ram Jackson, and the wooden sail/steam gunboat Chattahoochee.

The Jackson was recovered in the early 1960s and the Chattahoochee in 1964. Although the hull below the waterline is all that remains of both vessels, the visitor is left with a very good sense of the true size and the construction methods and materials used. Also featured are a good selection of naval ordinance and a large collection of ship models and artwork of various Civil War vessels. There are displays of mines/torpedoes of various types and documentation of the recovery with artifacts for both featured vessels.

The Confederate Naval Museum is at 202 4th St., Columbus, GA 31902-1022. Phone (706)327-9798. Website: http://www.tourcolumbus.com/museum/naval.html. The information below is based in large part on information that I gathered from the museum. I also used Paul H. Silverstone's "Warships of the Civil War Navies," published by The Naval Institute Press. I picked up a print of each ship that they carry in the small, but excellent, Civil War Naval bookshop located in the museum. They even carry some miniature ACW ships!

Jackson (aka Muscogee)
Type: casemate ironclad ram
Length: 208'6" (between perpendiculars). Overall 223'6".
Beam: 56'6" (moulded). 59'(extreme)
Depth of hold: 10'
Draft: 8'
Tonnage:unknown
Armor: 4" (2 x 2") rolled iron plate, backed with 20" of wood, on casemate (sides and ends). 2" (1 x 2") rolled iron plate on spar deck, flush decks, and over knuckle. Casemate angle 40 degrees.
Armament: 6 guns, 4 x 7" Brook rifles, pivot-mounted in each corner of casemate. 2 x 6.4" Brook rifles in broad ' side. Mention in records, suggest 2 x 12 pdr boat howitzers on spar deck '
Engines: 2 x horizontal, direct acting, low pressure engines, possibly 28" diameter x 24" stroke. Powering a center paddlewheel then a twin screw design. Built in Columbus, GA, by C. S. Naval Iron Works.
Speed: unknown
Crew: Lt. W. W. Carnes, commanding, with unknown compliment of crew.

The Jackson was laid down in December of 1862 at C. S. Navy Yard in Columbus, GA, under command of Lt. Augustus Mc Laughlin. Her first launch failed (drew too much water) in early 1864, and was redesigned for a twin screw configuration and other modifications. Her second launch was successful on Dec. 22,1864. On April 17,1865,only a few weeks away from final completion, she was captured by General Wilson's Union cavalry and set afire and allowed to drift down the Chattahoochee River, where she hit a sand bar some considerable distance (many, miles) from her starting point and burned to the waterline. I

Chattahoochee
Type: Wooden sail/steam gunboat
Rig: Initially a three-masted fore and aft schooner, she was changed to a type of barkentine.
Length: 130' between perpendiculars andl4l'overall (hull only, not counting bowsprit).
Beam: 30'(moulded) and 30'8" (extreme),
Depth of hold: 10'
Draft: 7'3"
Tonnage: Unknown
Armament: 6 guns. 1 x rifled & banded 32 pdr (6.4") forward. 1 x 9" Dahlgren smoothbore, aft. 4 x 32 pdr smoothbores (41 cwt.), in broadside. Engines: Two horizontal, direct acting, low pressure engines, possibly 28" in diameter x 20" stroke. 1 x low pressure, return fire-tube boiler 20' long. 2 x 7" diameter propellers. Machinery manufactured by C. S. Naval Iron Works, Columbus, GA.
Speed: Reported to make 12 knots on trials.
Crew: Approximately 120 Officers and men, as of Jan 1, 1863.
Commanding Officers: Lt. Catesby R. Jones (who also commanded the CSS Virginia in it's fight with the USS Monitor), 1862-63; Lt. John Julius Guthrie in 1863; Lt. George W. Gift in 1864.

Built at Saffold, GA, (Early Co.), Oct. 19,1861. Commissioned Jan 1, 1863. Operated on the upper Apalachicola River until sunk by boiler explosion on May 27, 1863, near Blountstown, FL. Raised and transferred to Columbus, GA, for repairs. She was scuttled by the Confederates several miles below Columbus to prevent capture by Union forces on April 16, 1865.

Ship. ratings for Smoke on the Water rules

Jackson
# in class: 1
Configuration: CM
Draft: S
Size: L HDP: 66
Targeting: C/E
Speed: M
Maneuverability: A
Armor: Hull bow: L Hull broadside: L Hull stern: L Casemate bow: H Casemate broadside: H Casemate stern: H Deck:L Stack: U
SDP: 10
Rudder: U
Ram:Y
Guns: FPGQ-HR, FSGQ-HR, APGQHR, ASGQ-HR, MPGF- MR, MSGF-MR, 2 x D-VLH.
Floatation points: 17
Date in Service: na
Model Manufacturers: 1/600 none. 1/1200 Houston. A substitution can made in 11600, using a similar size and type model, such as a Columbia/Texas.

Chattahoochee
# in class: 3 (Macon, Peedee)
Configuration: Con
Draft: S
Size: S
HDP: 22
Targeting: B/D
Speed: VF
Maneuverability: G
Armor: Hull bow: U Hull broadside: U Hull stern: U Deck: U Pilothouse: U Stack: U
SDP: 10
Rudder: U
Ram: N
Guns: FDS-MR, ADS-MSB, MPDFLSB, MSDF-LSB, APDF-LSB, ASDF-LSB
Flotation points: 6
Date in service: 1/11/63
Model Manufacturers: 1/600 none, 1/1200 none. A substitution can be made with a similar size and type of model such as a 1/600 Itasca Union gunboat.

Historically you could use the Chattahoochee on the Apolachicola River. As far as the Chattahoochee and Jackson go on the Chattahoochee River, you are pretty much limited to using them with Wilson's cavalry raid. This could make an excellent skirmish game objective. However the what if's are interesting and now you have the stats to give these two ships a try. A note on the Chattahoochee River at Columbus GA. I have a photograph of the Jackson on the river and it appears there isn't much room to maneuver due to the narrow nature of the river. It is still true! It's still a very narrow river, and once you get a look at the huge size of the Jackson, you just have to ask, what were they thinking?!