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CSS ''Virginia II'' was a Confederate Navy steam-powered ironclad ram laid down in 1862 at the William Graves' shipyard in Richmond, Virginia. Acting Constructor William A. Graves, CSN, was the superintendent in charge of her construction. In order to conserve scarce iron plating, he ordered the ship's armored casemate shortened from the specifications given in John L. Porter's original building plans; in addition, the ship's iron-plating, while six inches thick on the casemate's forward face, was reduced to five inches on her port, starboard, and aft faces. Due to the shortening of her casemate, the number of her cannon were reduced to a single 11" smoothbore, a single 8" rifle, and two 6.4" rifles. The ''Virginia II'' was named after the more famous Confederate ironclad, CSS ''Virginia'', also called the ''Merrimack'' because of the ship's origins as a Union frigate. The original ''Virginias success at the Battle of Hampton Roads caused "gunboat associations" to emerge around the South, mainly driven by women; their efforts helped with the construction of the ''Virginia II''.〔Coski, ''Capital Navy'', 82.〕 ==Construction== Money to help with the construction of this ironclad was largely contributed by the Richmond chapter of the "Ladies Aid and Defense Society" (called the "National Defense Association"), which adopted the ironclad in early April 1862 for the defense of Richmond. The chairman was Maria Gaitskell Clopton. It is estimated that the society contributed more than $30,000 towards ''Virginia II''s construction.〔Coski, ''Capital Navy'', 82–85〕 By November 1862, John Mercer Brooke was able to report that she was "pretty well advanced, frames up, clamps in, etc...She will be a strong and fine vessel."〔 However, after this promising start, significant delays plagued the new ironclad. It was not until more than a year after she was laid down that ''Virginia II'' was finally launched without incident on June 29, 1863. "She glided into the water 'like a thing of life' amid the prolonged cheers of the spectators."〔Coski, ''Capital Navy'', 86〕 However, she suffered from further fitting-out delays and was not fully commissioned until May 18, 1864, almost a year later; she was made the flagship of the James River Squadron (replacing CSS ''Richmond'' in this role).〔Coski, ''Capital Navy'', 153,156〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「CSS Virginia II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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