1/600 USS Red Rover

Red Rover was a luxury paddle steamer of considerable size, taken up into CSN service and used as an accomodations ship and tender for the ironclad battery CSS New Orleans. At the fall of New Orleans, Red Rover came into Federal hands, and it was decided to use her for a different purpose entirely. She was essentially redesigned, from stem to stern, as a hospital ship with numerous innovations. To include, but not limited due: an open aft deck for prisoners to take in fresh air and sunlight, a steam powered system of elevators/lifts for moving patients, an advanced ventilation system that kept her constant temperature relatively cool and carried ash and debris away from the ship and her passengers, and a hospital floor that was a model of cleanliness for the day. Her staff consisted of black and white doctors and nurses, and she treated wounded soldiers and sailors from both sides. Period accounts say that Confederate gunners more than once refused to fire on her, knowing that she aided the wounded and dying of both sides, and it was estimated at the time that the survival chances for a man sent to Red Rover were 67% greater than they were in a standard military hospital, a rate of survival which was, for the time, the highest in the world. Red Rover was, sadly, armed out of necessity, with a 32 pound banded rifle, and fired her guns in anger at least once, but only for defensive purposes. Her gunners and a small company of riflemen onboard took protecting her very seriously... Historically, she was painted all over black and white, with a grey or light wood deck and black stacks. Raised letters on both wheelhouses read "U.S.N. Hospital", probably in red or blue. This is a very special ship, with a very special place in the hearts of veterans, even today - one of the premiere treatment centers for sick and wounded soldiers, sailors, and marines still bears the name "U.S.S. Red Rover" in her honor. 75% of all sales (minus production costs from Shapeways) will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.