Hampton Roads Naval Museum
CSS Florida![Location Pin](https://wejunket-comb.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/wejunket/assets/images/location_pin.png)
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Hampton Roads Naval Museum
36. CSS Florida![Location Pin](https://wejunket-comb.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/wejunket/assets/images/location_pin.png)
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![Wavy Line](https://wejunket-comb.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/wejunket/assets/images/bg_header.png)
CSS Florida, a steam screw cruiser of about 700 tons, was built in England in 1862 under the name Oreto. Secretly purchased by the Confederate States Navy, she sailed in March 1862 for the Bahamas in the guise of a merchant ship. After her arrival, she was fitted as a naval vessel and commissioned in August 1862, commanded by First Lieutenant John Newland Maffitt. With her crew largely disabled by yellow fever, Florida went to Cuba and, on September 4, 1862, ran the Federal blockade into Mobile, Alabama. After completing her outfitting, Maffitt took his ship back out through the blockade on January 16, 1863. Operating in the Atlantic and West Indies over the next eight months, Florida captured twenty-two prizes, striking terror in the United States' merchant marine and frustrating the U.S. Navy's efforts to catch her. In August 1863, she went to Brest, France, remaining there until the following February, when she again got to sea past watching Federal forces. Under the command of First Lieutenant Charles M. Morris, Florida took another eleven prizes between then and October 1864, when she arrived at Bahia, Brazil. While anchored in that port on October 7, Florida was attacked, captured, and towed to sea by USS Wachusett, in violation of Brazilian neutrality. After being taken to the U.S., her return to Brazil was ordered by the courts. However, before this could be done, on November 28, 1864, Florida was accidently sunk off Newport News, Virginia. The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is the official repository of all artifacts from the CSS Florida, including those you see in this exhibit.
![Image 1 - CSS Florida - Hampton Roads Naval Museum](https://media.wejunket.com/images/d238f91e61b61908a85cc30856df89f2.jpg)
••••
- Puppet Tour of the Museum
- Hampton Roads
- Seaman's Jacket & ECD uniform
- Battle off the Virginia Capes
- Ville de Paris
- Capture of USS Chesapeake
- 18-Pounder Naval Cannon
- USS Chesapeake
- USS Constellation
- US Gunboat 135
- American Musket, 1812
- First American Drydock
- USS Delaware
- USS Norfolk
- Fore and Aft Hat
- USS Pennsylvania
- Intro to the Civil War
- The Anaconda Plan
- Life At Sea
- Confederate Defenses
- USS Monitor
- CSS Virginia
- Duel of the Ironclads
- USS Cumberland
- USS Congress
- USS Minnesota
- Capture of Roanoke Island
- G.W.P. Custis
- USS Roanoke
- USS New Ironsides
- Engine Room Clock
- Gangway Headboards
- USS Onondaga
- Fall of Fort Fisher
- CSS Richmond
- CSS Florida
- The Civil War Final
- Shipfitters' tools, 1800s
- Steel Navy
- USS Maine
- Spanish-American War
- The Great White Fleet
- Jamestown Exposition
- Naval Station Norfolk
- Birth of Naval Aviation
- USS Truxtun (DD-14)
- USS Subchaser 136
- Mines in WWI
- Propaganda Posters
- USS New York (BB-34)
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