The H. L. Hunley ‘submersible craft’

The Hunley

The H. L. Hunley ‘submersible craft’ of the Confederate States of America may have played a small part in the American Civil War - but its role in the history of naval warfare was something considerably more important. Many will argue its contribution to Confederate naval operations was less than hoped for but on three short voyages, the 'Hunley' demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare. It was the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship. Although the 'Hunley' was not completely submerged at the time and sank at some point following, her successful attack was a considerable achievement. In all however, twenty one crewmen died in three, separate incidents and sinking’s of the 'Hunley'during her short career. The submarine was named after her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley; but her origins were due to group of private citizens in New Orleans, including James McClintock, Baxter Watson and Horace Hunley, who together financed and designed a submersible torpedo boat. The 'Hunley' was actually their third attempt for a working design. The first, 'Pioneer' was completed but scuttled in Lake Pontchartrain soon the fall of the city in 1862. These enterprising engineers were forced to move to Mobile where they built a second vessel, 'The American Diver'. For this, Mclintock experimented with different means of motive power, including steam and battery power but in the end, faced with material shortages and financial shortfalls, opted for a hand cranked drive. On its first trial voyage however,'The American Diver' was swamped and subsequently lost while under tow outside of Mobile Bay. Its location remains a mystery to this day. Some months later, with additional investors contributing a further $15,000, the team built their third submarine. This would later become known as the'Hunley'. Once again it was designed to be ‘hand-cranked’ by seven members of the crew of eight and using hand-pumped ballast tanks, fore and aft, to submerge and surface. Additional ballast consisted of several, cast-iron weights bolted firmly to the underside of the hull. In the event the submarine needed additional buoyancy or surface in any emergency, these in theory could be unscrewed from within the vessel. Legend long held 'Hunley' was made from a redundant steam boiler but in fact it was a purpose-built design for her intended role; and as soon as construction was complete, the new vessel was tested for various offensive possibilities. Everything was ready for a full demonstration by July 1863. Supervised by Confederate Admiral, Franklin Buchanan, the 'Hunley'successfully demonstrated an attack against a dummy target, using a towed-contact torpedo. On this evidence alone, the Confederate authorities, aware of its on-going development, quickly approved 'Hunley’s'use and loaded the vessel on a train to Charleston. T he 'Hunley' measured a fraction less than forty feet in length, was equipped with two narrow, watertight hatches fore and aft. Additionally, two, low profile conning towers fitted with small portholes and a single, triangular breakwater, provided limited ‘sighting’ for the crew. The restricted size of these hatches made any entrance or egress from the hull very difficult. Therefore, in an emergency the likelihood of escape would be almost none. By the time the military took command, a redesign was out of the question. 'Hunley' arrived in Charleston on August 12, 1863. Returned to her natural environment, she was commanded by McClintock with Gus Whitney as the first officer and the civilian crew from Mobile. Their base of operations was the cove, a small inlet behind Sullivan's Island. McClintock would take his vessel out daily but on no occasion, did they engage the enemy. On the night of August 21st 1863, the ‘Swamp Angel’, a secretly constructed federal battery built in the marshes behind Folly Island, began shelling downtown Charleston - the gunners used the steeple of St. Michael's church to target their fire. Two days later the confederate military, frustrated by 'Hunley's' lack of results, seized the sub and turned it over to Lt. John Payne and a volunteer crew from the ironclad CSS Chicora. The new crew immediately commenced training for several days until, when on August 29th, disaster struck. 'Hunley' was being towed away from Fort Johnson by the gunboat ‘Ettawan’with the full crew of eight men on board. Lt. Payne, standing in the open forward hatch, was seemingly struggling with the tow line (?) when he accidentally kicked the diving plane tiller into the down position. Due to the forward motion from the tow boat, 'Hunley' went into an immediate dive with both hatches open. Payne and three other crew escaped but Charles Hasker was caught in the forward hatch and carried to the bottom, forty feet deep. By September 1st, efforts to raise the boat were underway- a process that would take eleven days. The sub's future at this point was uncertain until Horace Hunley wrote the military on the 19th, requesting that he and the original civilian crew (who demonstrated the boat in Mobile) be given the project. The military reluctantly agreed but put a Lt. George Dixon in command. In early October, the civilian crew was reassembled and training resumed. On October 5th the CSS David successfully attacked the federal gunboat ‘New Ironsides’ and soon after, Hunley resumed nightly sorties outside the mouth of the harbour.   It is worth mentioning that although many reference list the 'Hunley' as the CSS Hunley, the submarine was never actually commissioned into Confederate Navy service. The reasons for this anomaly have never been fully explained but the constant involvement of civilian personnel may have had some bearing on that decision. On the October 15th, Horace Hunley insisted he command the sub for a morning demonstration dive under the CSS Indian Chief (records don't explain where Dixon was at the time). The sub dived according to plan but never resurfaced. Three days later, divers located the sub in fifty six feet of water. The 'Hunley' was at a severe angle; bow down, stuck firmly in the silt at the bottom. She was raised after several days and following her salvage, it was discovered the forward sea cock was open allowing the forward ballast tank to fill and overflow. The rear tank was still closed and full of air. The hatches were unbolted but remained shut through the sinking due to the pressure of the water. While trying to push open the hatches, Hunley and the first officer were asphyxiated standing in the conning towers where all the trapped air remained. The rest of the crew drowned. Horace Hunley, manning the forward position is assumed to be most likely responsible for the actual sinking. Through the month of November 1863, the 'Hunley' was refurbished on a wharf in Mt. Pleasant. Conrad and a new military crew assembled with volunteers from the CSS Indian Chief. Training resumed the following month and by end-December, 'Hunley' was running under cover of night outside the harbour limits. To give the crew some respite and maximise their strength during operations and their return voyage, the CSS Davidwas once more employed as a tow-boat, taking the 'Hunley' as far out as possible. For almost two months the'Hunley' and her crew rehearsed running attacks using a new torpedo mounted on a seventeen foot pole, fixed to the bow of the vessel. During this period, sometime in early February, a lone federal sloop-of-war, USS Housatonic, began anchoring closer to the Sullivan's Island beach each night in an effort to intercept those blockade runners that followed the shoreline in their efforts to slip past the Federal fleet. On the 17th of February orders were given for the 'Hunley' to engage the'USS Housatonic'. Approaching the blockading vessel on the surface,'Housatonic's' crew spotted her and opened fire with small arms, but failed to stop the attack. In desperation, the Captain of the Federal vessel, slipped anchor and reversed her propeller in an effort to avoid the'Hunley's' obvious intent - but to no avail. 'Hunley' rammed her torpedo into the Federal ship about eight feet below the waterline before backing off, leaving the torpedo embedded in the USS Housitonic's wooden side. As several hundred feet of cord spooling out from 'Hunley', eventually became taut, the trigger detonated the explosive charge and possibly the entire 'Housatonic's' magazine. Whatever happened, the warship went down in less than five minutes, settling upright in thirty feet of water with her rigging still high above the sea. Despite the suddenness of her sinking, all but five of 'Housatonic's' crew survived. After the attack, witnesses record that 'Hunley' gave a prearranged signal (with a blue lantern) to sentries on shore, who ignited a large fire on the beach at Breach Inlet to guide the submarine home; but the 'Hunley' and her gallant crew were never was seen again.   The Hunley By Roy Rawlinson Hon Member 290 Foundation    How brave these men of Hunley Their names, in glory sown More brave than all before them, As they, faced the unknown Yet all we have that`s left of them, Is button, small and round. If only she could speak to me With gentle rolling sound And talk she does, through history, A page, now out of time. Just a moment of adventure For young men, in their prime. They never knew just what they did, Or how they altered war, A feat, just so momentous Be spoke of, evermore. Their vessel now be in plain view, This Hunley they did sail. It cause the mind to wonder then, Just how, in ship so frail. Remember they who did this deed, This day in Caroline. The men who set the standard, For now, and for all time

Stephen Mallory

Stephen Russell Mallory (1812 – November 9, 1873) served in the United States Senate as Senator (Democrat) from Florida from 1850 to the secession of his home state and the outbreak of the American Civil War. For much of that period, he was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. This was a time of rapid naval reform, and he insisted that the ships of the United States Navy should be as capable as those of Great Britain and France, the foremost navies in the world at that time. He also wrote a bill, and guided it through Congress, that provided for compulsory retirement of officers who did not meet the standards of the profession. Although he was not a leader in the secession movement, Mallory followed his state out of the Union. When the Confederate States of America was formed, he was named Secretary of the Navy in the administration of President Jefferson Davis. He held the position throughout the existence of the Confederacy. Because of indifference to naval matters by most others in the Confederacy, Mallory was able to shape the Confederate Navy according to the principles he had learned while serving in the US Senate. Some of his ideas, such as the incorporation of armor into warship construction, were quite successful and became standard in navies around the world. On the other hand, the navy was often handicapped by administrative ineptitude in the Navy Department. During the war, he was weakened politically by a Congressional investigation into the Navy Department for its failure in defense of New Orleans. After months of taking testimony, the investigating committee concluded that it had no evidence of wrongdoing on his part. Mallory resigned after the Confederate government had fled from Richmond at the end of the war. Following the final collapse of the Confederacy, he and several of his colleagues in the cabinet were imprisoned and charged with treason. After more than a year in prison, the public mood had softened, and he was granted parole by President Andrew Johnson. He returned to Florida, where he supported his family in his final years by again practicing law. Unable to hold elective office by the terms of his parole, he continued to make his opinions known by writing letters to newspapers. His health began to deteriorate, although he was not incapacitated until the very end. He died on November 9, 1873. He was the father of Stephen Russell Mallory, a U.S. Representative and Senator from Florida

Confederate States Lighthouse Bureau

The Confederate States Lighthouse Bureau was an administrative bureau within the Confederate States Department of the Treasury which was responsible for the upkeep of lighthouses and other navigational aids along Confederate shores. The Confederate States Lighthouse Bureau was formed by an act of the Provisional Confederate Congress on March 5, 1861 to oversee the construction and care of all aids to navigation in the Confederate States of America. In the portion of the act establishing the Lighthouse Bureau, the position of Chief of the Lighthouse Bureau was declared to be open only to commissioned officers of the Confederate Navy. Act No. 51 also declared the Lighthouse Bureau was to divide the shores of the Confederate States of America into no more than five separate districts which would be the responsibilities of five lieutenants acting as district superintendents. The act also authorized the President to direct that military engineers construct and maintain lighthouses and navigational aids. The Chief of the Bureau was to report directly to the Secretary of the Treasury on a yearly basis. The Bureau's papers are housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

The Organization of the Confederate Navy

        On looking over the history of the rise of the wed even from the writings of the earlier and more or less partisan historians, a reader will not fail to be impressed with the wonderful resourcefulness that was displayed in meeting the unexpected exigencies of war. Viewed from. an absolutely impartial standpoint, the South apparently accomplished the impossible. The young Confederacy succeeded against heavy odds in making something out of almost nothing. There was no naval warfare in the proper sense of the word during the four years' conflict; there were no fleets that met in battle at sea, and only two or three actions that could be touched upon in strictly naval annals. But at the outset, in the making up of the Government of the new republic, there was formed a Navy Department whose accomplishments, struggling against the difficulties that confronted it, were little short of marvelous, considering the limited time, available for preparation, in a country almost barren of ship-yards and other means of providing and equipping sea-going vessels, not to mention warships.
        In the closing days of 1860, the secession of South Carolina made the fact apparent to the people of the North and South that the breach was constantly widening between the two sections of the country. Very soon it was perceived that the ever-growing chasm could not be bridged by diplomatic means, and that to sustain the stand they had taken the seceding States would be forced by the urging voices of their leaders to make an appeal to arms.
        The South was immeasurably handicapped in more ways than one, but principally by its utter lack of any war-ships, and its dearth of even the nucleus of any naval force. The secession of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana in quick succession made for a sure commencement of hostilities. In February, 1861, delegates from the seceding States met at Montgomery, Alabama, and organized a new Provisional Government; the breach had widened beyond all hope of repair; the only manner in which the matter could be settled was by war.
        Jefferson Davis was made the President of the new republic, and the task he had to face might well have appalled a less resourceful brain. Without a treasury, without an army, and without a single gunboat, the new President appointed his cabinet, and assigned the post of Secretary of the Navy to Stephen R. Mallory, of Florida, who had served his State in the United States Senate, and for years had been chairman of the Naval Committee of the House of Representatives, an experience that stood him in good stead.
        The problems that confronted the other ministers were perplexing, but that which faced the new Secretary of the Navy was the most monumental of them all. The South did not own a vessel capable of being fitted out as a ship of war. There were only two navy-yards in the South--one at Norfolk, Virginia, which State had not then cast her lot with the secessionists; the other navy-yard was at Pensacola, Florida, and was not fitted for construction work but intended only for repair and shelter. Even though it had been perfectly adapted to the construction of ships of war, the Federal Government held the fortifications that guarded the entrance to the harbor, and blockading squadrons could have stopped or destroyed any vessel that attempted to pass out to sea. There were a few small private shipyards scattered throughout the South, but not one with the plant necessary to build and equip a warship of even moderate tonnage.
        In addition to this, there was but one manufacturer in the South who could construct an engine of sufficient power properly to propel a serviceable gunboat; there was a scarcity of iron, and there were no factories equipped to roll the two-and-one-half-inch plate that served to armor the ironclads soon to replace the wooden ships. There was but one plant in the South that could supply large-caliber guns, and that was the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, which was out of the jurisdiction of the Confederate States until after the firing on Fort Sumter.. There was wood enough in the South to have built a mighty fleet of ships, but it was standing in the forests, uncut and unseasoned, and in everything necessary for the equipment and construction of serviceable war-ships, the South was lacking or very poorly supplied. There was no money in the Confederate coffers to buy all these necessities, and while the existence of the Confederacy as a revolutionary body was recognized by the world-powers, its stability as a Government was not acknowledged, and its credit was not established.
        An additional obstacle in the path of the formation of a Confederate navy was the fact that the great powers of Europe issued proclamations of neutrality almost immediately after the first gun had been fired at Fort Sumter, and the lesser powers soon followed the lead of the greater ones. In substance, these proclamations allowed ships of either navy harbor for the purpose of making repairs or of securing supplies. No ship might reenforce her crew in any of these foreign ports or make any alterations other than repairs necessary to make their crafts seaworthy; they were to receive on board no ordnance Supplies or any other "contraband" articles; they might not take on board more than enough coal to carry them to the nearest port in their own country, and they could. not coal in the harbor of any one power more than once in three months, except by special permission.
        This was the situation that faced the Secretary of the Navy of the Confederacy after the opening of hostilities. But even before the war-cloud had broken over the Nation, Secretary Mallory had started to build up his organization, undismayed by t to contend against. There were many Southerners in the Federal navy whose sympathies were with the new Government, and their resignations were daily being handed to the authorities at Washington, and their services tendered to the Confederate States.
        Many of the men who left the Federal service were commanders of ships, and there were instances where they might easily have turned their vessels over to the Confederacy, but, without an exception, they returned the ships entrusted to them to the Federal Government before leaving the service, thus "retiring with clean hands." There were also several officers on coast-line vessels that were in Southern ports after the firing of the first gun, who sailed back to the North with their ships before going south to join the Confederates.
        Sixteen captains, thirty-four commanders, and seventy-six lieutenants, together with one hundred and eleven regular and acting midshipmen, resigned from the United States Navy. To make provision for these officers, the Confederate service was increased by the Amendatory Act of April 21, 1862, and made to consist of:

        Four admirals, 10 captains, 81 commanders, 100 first lieutenants, second lieutenants, 20 masters, in line of promotion; 12 paymasters, 40 assistant. paymasters, 22 surgeons, 15 passed assistant surgeons, 30 assistant surgeons, 1 engineer-in-chief, and 12 engineers.
        That all the admirals, 4 of the captains, 5 of the commanders, of the first lieutenants and 5 of the second lieutenants shall be appointed solely for gallant or meritorious conduct during the war. The appointments shall be made from the grade immediately below the one to be filled and without reference to the rank of the officer in such grade, and the service for which the appointment shall be conferred shall be specified in the commission. Provided, that all officers below the grade of second lieutenant may be promoted more than one grade for the same service . . .

        One of the first Southern naval men to resign from the Federal Naval Department was Commander Raphael Semmes, who at once went South to enter the service of the new Government. He was sent to the North to secure what arms and ammunition he could, to contract for the delivery of more, and, if possible, to find ships that might serve as a nucleus for the navy of the Confederacy. A large amount of ordnance supplies was delivered or contracted for, but no vessels could be found that would be in the least adapted to service on the high seas, and with this portion of his mission unfulfilled, Semmes returned to Montgomery, twelve days before the firing on Fort Sumter.
        Meanwhile, other agents of the Government had been attempting to find suitable ships in the Southern harbors that might be bought. All of these were reported as unsuitable for service as naval vessels, but Commander learning the qualifications of one of them, asked the Secretary of the Navy to secure her, have her altered, give him command, and then allow him to go to sea. The secretary acceded to this request, and the little boat was taken into New Orleans and operations were started to transform her into a gunboat which might fly the Confederate colors and, by harassing the commerce of the North, do her share in the work of warfare. The plans for the reconstruction of the vessel had scarcely been completed when the word was flashed around the world that Fort Sumter had been fired on and had fallen, and the ship, the first of a navy that was to contend against the third largest navy in the world, was christened after the first fort to fall into the hands of the Confederacy, the Sumter.
        The Navy Department of the South now redoubled its efforts to provide the ships necessary for the defense of its coast and inland rivers. Almost any craft that could be fitted to mount a gun was pressed into service, and as quickly as the means would allow, these boats were prepared for their work, and officers and crews assigned to them.
        As soon as war had been declared it became evident that Virginia would join the seceding States, and before the hasty and ill-advised evacuation of the great navy-yard at Norfolk, the Federals destroyed as much of the property as they could. Six of the seven ships that were then in the Gosport yard, on the 20th of April, when the destruction was commenced, were totally destroyed, but the seventh, the screw frigate Merrimac, after being burned almost to the water-line, was saved after the Federals had left, and the Confederate authorities, under the direction of John M. Brooke, late lieutenant, United States navy, immediately started the reconstruction of the wreck on plans that were new to naval warfare. On the 8th of March, in the following year, the armored Merrimac, rechristened the Virginia, raised the hopes of the Confederacy, and closed the day of the wooden battle-ship by the sinking of the Cumberland and the destruction of the Congress in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The hopes she had roused, however, were shattered on the day following by the advent of Ericsson's Monitor.
        A number of other Federal ships were seized after the opening of hostilities, among which were the revenue cutters Aiken, Cass, Washington, Pickens, Dodge, McClelland, and Bradford. All of these boats were fitted out for privateering as quickly as possible, and went to sea with varying fortunes. The Aiken was rechristened the Petrel, and her career was soon ended by the United States frigate St. Lawrence, from which she was attempting to escape.
        The treasury of the Confederacy was soon supplied with enough currency to start operations, and with the share allotted to it the Navy Department commenced to make its small fleet as formidable as possible. All the shipyards that had been taken possession of or could be secured from private parties were equipped to handle the work of construction and refitting. Every ship that could be found that might answer any of the purposes of the navy was purchased, and before the close of the first year of the war thirty-five steamers and sailing craft of various dimensions, classes, and armaments had been any others were in the process of construction. Of those in commission, twenty-one were steam vessels, most of them small, and chosen for speed rather than power. The armament of all was very light in comparison with the war-ships of the Federal fleets. Several of them carried but one gun, others carried two, and the majority carried less than five.
        Quite wonderful was the advance made in other departments than that of shipbuilding. The Navy Department had erected a powder-mill, engine-, boiler-, and machine-shops, and five ordnance workshops. There had been established a rope-walk capable of making all kinds of cordage from a rope-yarn to a 9-inch cable and able to turn out eight thousand yards per month. This was in addition to the eighteen shipbuilding yards already planned and in operation. The ladies of Georgia had presented to the Confederate States a floating battery that was partially finished at the end of the first year of the war. The State of Alabama had turned over an iron-clad ram as a gift to the Confederate service.
        Most of the ships that had been completed at the close of the first year of the war were sent to sea as privateers to hamper the Northern merchant marine. Others were used to guard the mouths of the rivers of the Confederacy, while several of them moved on the offensive in the rivers. The George Page (renamed the Richmond), a small steamer, lightly equipped, soon became well known to the Federals for its continual menacing of the forts on the Occoquan River and Quantico Creek, often advancing close and firing shells into them.
        Soon after the commencement of the war, the Confederate privateers became such a menace that President Lincoln issued a proclamation that all the privateers would be regarded as pirates, and that their crews and officers would be subjected to punishment as such. Six months after the issuing of this order the crew of the captured privateer Savannah was tried for piracy, but the jury disagreed. While awaiting a new trial, the Confederacy imprisoned an equal number of officers of the Federal army, who were held as prisoners of war, and notified Federals that whatever punishment was inflicted upon the privateersmen would be imposed upon the officers who were held as hostages. The great nations of the world refused to accept the ultimatum of the Union that the privateers were practicing piracy, and from that time to the close of the war the men captured on privateers were treated as prisoners of war.
        Now took place, on the part of the Confederate Navy Department, a most important move which opened a new chapter in naval history. On the 9th of May, 1861, Secretary Mallory, convinced that the resources of the Confederacy were not sufficient to complete a navy that would be adequate to maintain the defenses of the waterways of the South, commissioned James D. Bulloch to go to England and attempt to have some suitable ships constructed there, informing him at the same time that the necessary funds would be secured and placed at his disposal by the representatives of the Confederacy in England. The matter of building war-vessels in England presented many difficulties, for, under the British policy of' neutrality, any ship of either of the warring powers that took on any armament or other equipment that was classed as contraband, was guilty of a breach of the neutrality agreement, and might be taken possession of by the British Government.
        Captain Bulloch, a graduate of Annapolis, was well suited to the task, and he at once entered into negotiations for the building of two ships, which were to be delivered to him personally as his property. While built on the general lines of ships that would be suitable for privateering, they were not to be armed or in any way equipped as battle-ships by their makers. In spite, however, of all the precautions taken, the ships were not more than half completed before the suspicions gents were aroused. But, though they were morally certain that the ships were to serve in the Confederate navy, there was no tangible evidence upon which they could be detained, and both boats were completed and sailed out of English waters without any contraband stores aboard them. They were later equipped at other ports from ships that had carried out their arms and ammunition. Bulloch remained in Europe during the greater part of the war, and was a valuable assistant to the Secretary of the Navy of the Confederacy.
        During the time in which he was superintending the gathering of this foreign-built force, Secretary Mallory was also organizing his department for efficient work in providing for the needs of all naval forces. He organized a bureau of orders and details, a bureau of ordnance and hydrography, a bureau of provisions and clothing, which also had charge of the paying of the naval forces, and a bureau of medicine and surgery. These bureaus were headed by competent men, and the detailed work of the department was soon being carried on in a thorough, business-like manner.
        The matter of securing recruits was easily handled; there was no time when the number of men enlisted was not more than was necessary to man all the ships in the service. The men enlisted in the navy who could not be sent to sea were usually assigned to garrison the forts on the coast and along the rivers, while at times they were called upon to serve in the field with the regular army.
        Most of the ships that were built for the Confederacy abroad were manned largely by recruits gathered on foreign shores, some of them being natives of the Confederate States, and others men who sympathized with the cause sufficiently to fight under its colors. The danger in running these boats through the blockading squadrons that lined the Confederate shores and the impossibility of getting men out of the ports on other ships, made it necessary to take what men could be secured. These vessels are always officered by Confederates bearing Government commissions.
        The pay of the officers of the Confederate navy was based on a sliding scale, regulated by the length of service and the occupation of the officer, as was the law in the Federal service. The pay, however, was larger. An admiral received $6000 a year; a captain's pay, when commanding a squadron, $5000; on any other duty at sea, $4200; on other duty, $3600, and on leave or awaiting orders, $3000. The pay of other officers was to be regulated by length of service, but as the first increase in pay was to come after five years' service, none of the officers benefitted by it. The pay of a commander on duty at sea was $2825 a year for the first five years after the date of commission, and on other duty, $2662. Commanders on leave or awaiting orders received $2250. Lieutenants commanding at sea received $2550; first lieutenants on duty at sea received $1500 a year, and the same when on other duty. When on leave or awaiting orders they received $1200 a year. Second lieutenants when on duty at sea received $1200 a year, and when on leave or on other duty received $1000. Surgeons on duty at sea received $2200 and when on other duty $2000 a year.
        At Richmond, very early in the struggle, a naval school was established by Secretary Mallory and placed under the command of Lieutenant William H. Parker, a former officer of the United States navy, who, at the outbreak of the war, had already seen twenty years of service.
        In July, 1863, the steamship Patrick Henry, then at Richmond, was converted into a school-ship. She was ordered to remain at anchor off Drewry's Bluff in the James River to lend assistance, if necessary, to the defense of the capital. In the fall of the year the Confederate States Naval Academy was formally opened with an efficient corps of professors.
        Throughout the exciting times of 1864-65 the exercises of the school were regularly continued, and many of the students gave a good account of themselves before the war was over.
Source: "Photographic History of the Civil War" Volume 3

Rank Charts for Confederate War Navies

Confederate Marine Corps
There is a certain amount of variability to CSMC officer uniforms in the photographic evidence. The use of Navy blue / black on collars and cuffs may have been for dress uniforms only. Unlike the USMC, the Russian knots worn on the shoulders did not carry any insignia; that was expressed by the collar tabs and lace on the cuffs. On both field and dress uniforms, the Austrian knots on the sleeves are gold; their appearance as black in some photos is due to the Navy blue backing used for the dress uniform, and the fact that yellow often photographed as black in early pictures (see footnote).

Officers' Collar Insigniae
Colonel	Captain
Lieutenant Colonel	1st Lieutenant
Major	2nd Lieutenant

Officers' Cuff Insigniae
Colonel	Lt. Colonel	Major	Captain	1st Lieutenant	2nd Lieutenant

NCOs'  Insigniae (1)
Sergeant Major	Quartermaster Sergeant	Drum Major / Ordnance Sgt	1st Sergeant / Orderly Sgt	Sergeant	Corporal

USN A	USN B	USN C	USN D	USN E	CSN(all)	USMC(all)	CSMC(all)
1861- 7/13/62	8/1/1862- 5/23/63	5/24/64- 1/28/64	1/29/64- 1/14/65	1/15/65- 12/1/66	1861 Regs 1864 Adds

_____
(1) Some sources suggest black stripes on a dark gray backing. There is no textual evidence for this practice and no indication that the CSMC changed from USMC usage. All other service branches used the same color schemes as their US counterparts. An explanation for the confusion lies perhaps in the way old film rendered colors. As late as the First World War, black and white film often made yellow and other warm colors appear much darker than they were in reality—sometimes even looking darker than black. Take a look through photos of women from the war years--why are there no blondes?