CSS Arkansas

	A drawing of C. S. S. Arkansas by R. G. Skerrett
History
Confederate States
Name	Arkansas
Namesake	State of Arkansas
Ordered	August 24, 1861
Builder	John T. Shirley, Memphis, Tennessee
Cost	CS$76,920
Laid down	October 1861
Launched	April 1862
Commissioned	April 25, 1862
Fate	Destroyed by her crew, August 6, 1862
General characteristics (1862)
Class and type	Arkansas-class ironclad
Displacement	1,200 long tons (1,200 t) (designed)
Length	165 ft (50 m)
Beam	35 ft (11 m)
Draft	11.5 ft (3.5 m) (designed)
Speed	8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Complement	232 officers and men
Armament	Ram at the bow; 2 × 8 in (203 mm) Columbiad smoothbores in bow ports; 2 × 6.4 in (163 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns (RML) in stern ports; 2–3 × 6.4 in (163 mm) RMLs, 2 × 9 in (229 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns and 1–2 × 32-pdr smoothbores in broadside ports.;
Armor	Casemate: Railroad iron over wood and compressed cotton ; Pilothouse: 2 in (51 mm) ; Casemate roof: 0.5 in (13 mm) ; Casemate stern: Thin iron sheets;

CSS Arkansas was the lead ship of her class of two casemate ironclads built for the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Completed in 1862, she saw combat in the Western Theater when she steamed through a United States Navy fleet at Vicksburg in July. Arkansas was set on fire and destroyed by her crew after her engines broke down several weeks later. Her remains lie under a levee above Baton Rouge, Louisiana at 30°29′14″N 91°12′5″W.

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