1/600 CSS Columbus

The history of CSN turret ships is evolving as more records emerge.

Prior to the 1863, the CSN had authorized more than one "turreted" warship, but these were turreted in the original sense of the word: that is, they had a stationary turret with rotating guns inside (as opposed to a rotating turret, which, properly speaking in the lingua franca of the time, is a barbette. Confused yet? So are most of us trying to sort through this information. Consider yourself a member of the club.) The most notable of these were John Roy's "Tower Ships," which featured rounded turrets with paired heavy guns rotating on a platform of John Roy's own design, laid down in early 1863. Three were laid down at New Orleans, and all were destroyed, prior to completion, with the fall of that city.

In 1863, Samuel Tifts urged the Confederate Navy to once again consider the practical use of "monitor type" vessels with rotating rurets in defense of the Confederacy. In addition to a lower crew requirement, they would require fewer guns, present a low armored profile, and serve as a more effective harbor and coastal defense vessel. Tifts had, by this time, developed a reputation as a capable (and rapid) ship buider and naval architect, and presented his own plan for a prototype of the class.

Secretary Mallory agreed to the proposal, but the plan was altered once again to feature two, pivot mounted heavy guns placed inside a non-rotating turret mounted atop a low profile "raft" like hull. The vessel was to be laid down at Columbus Georgia. After funds were prepared and a slot in the Columbus yards was selected, there seems to have been a delay. Indications are that a new plan, the first formally approved design with a fully rotating turret, was substituted after the keel and lower strakes for the original vessel had been laid. For whatever reason, Columbus is never mentioned again: we don't know whether she was burned, abandoned, launched and then forgotten, etc. Aside from a few strange reports by Union agents of "Rebel Monitors," the existence of no such vessel has been proven, and Columbus remains the only vessel with a "rotating turret design" actually laid down in the South.

The vessel depicted here, commonly referred  "CSS Columbus," (though we do not know whether this was, in fact, the name approved by the Naval Department) is based upon Tifts' modified, non-rotating,  plan, and reflects the Columbus as she would likely have appeared if completed as originally approved. We're currently working on a variant featuring the most likely rotating turret design.

We have tested and are very satisifed with the Tan Fine Detail Plastic: this reveals the rivets and detail work present in the actual sculpt, which is somewhat lost in the Natural Plastic variations. Nevertheless, BNVP gives a very reasonable print. While WNVP is improving, it has provided the roughest print of the three.