203 CSS 'STONEWALL'

The CSS Stonewall is an armored ram, originally belonging to the Confederated States of America (CSA) during the Civil War (1861-1865). The keel for this unit was laid in 1863, and the launch took place in June 1864. The full displacement of the ship at the time of launching was about 1,500 tons, 59 meters long and 9.6 meters wide. The maximum speed was 9-10 knots. At the time of launching, the deck armament consisted of a 254 mm caliber gun and two 163 mm guns. The CSS Stonewall was commissioned by Confederate government agent James Bulloch at the Arman shipyard in Bordeaux, France. As a result of protests from the US embassy, the French government suspended the sale of the CSA unit, and the shipyard sold the unit to Denmark, at that time at war with Prussia. However, the unit did not reach its new owner before the end of the Danish-Prussian war and was finally handed over to the Confederation. The ship entered service with the CSA fleet only in January 1865, but the problem was that she still had to cross the Atlantic with a significant advantage of the US Navy. The ship did not take part in the operations before the end of the Civil War, and was later taken over by the United States, which sold it to Japan in 1867. There he served under the name of Kotetsu, and since 1871 - Azuma.