Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy ( CSN ) was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces , established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21 , 1861 . It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War . The three major tasks of the Confederate Navy during the whole of its existence were the protection of Southern harbors and coastlines from outside invasion , making the war costly for the United States by attacking U . S . merchant ships world - wide and breaking the Union Blockade by drawing off U . S . Navy ships in pursuit of the Confederate raiders . History . The C . S . Navy could never achieve equality with the Union Navy , so it used technological innovation , such as ironclads , submarine s , torpedo boats , and naval mine s ( then known as torpedoes ) to gain advantage . In February 1861 the Confederate Navy had thirty ships , only fourteen of which were seaworthy , while the Union Navy had ninety vessels ; the C . S . Navy eventually grew to 101 ships to meet the rise in naval threats and conflicts . On 20 April 1861 the Union was forced to quickly abandon the important Gosport Navy Yard . In doing so they failed to effectively burn the facility , its large supply and arms depots , or in - port ships . As a result , the Confederacy captured much needed war materials and ordnance . Of most importance the South gained the shipyards dry docks , sorely needed to build new warships . ( The Confederacys other major navy yard was in Pensacola , Florida ) . Ships left at the Norfolk shipyard included the scuttled screw frigate USS " Merrimack " . It was C . S . Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory s idea to raise the partially burned " Merrimack " and heavily armor the ships newly rebuilt upper works with thick oak and pine planking , overlaid with two courses of heavy iron plate , turning it into a new kind of warship : an all - steam powered " iron clad " . The new ship was christened CSS " Virginia " and later fought the Unions new ironclad USS " Monitor " to a draw on the second day of the Battle of Hampton Roads . On the first day , " Virginia " aggressively attacked and nearly broke the Union Navys sea blockade of wooden warships , proving the effectiveness of its ironclad concept . The final Confederate surrender took place on 6 November 1865 aboard the commerce raider CSS " Shenandoah " in Liverpool , England ; this surrender brought about the end of the Confederate Navy . The " Shenandoah " had circumnavigated the globe , the only CSN ship to do so . Creation . The act of the Confederate Congress that created the Confederate Navy on 21 February 1861 also appointed Stephen Mallory as Secretary of the Department of the Navy . Mallory was experienced as an admiralty lawyer in his home state of Florida , and he had served for a time as the chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee while he was a United States Senator . After Navy Secretary , Mallory began aggressively building up the C . S . Navy toward his goal of creating a formidable naval force , a Confederate Congress committee , meeting on 27 August 1862 , reported : In addition to the ships included in the report of the committee , the C . S . Navy also had one ironclad floating battery , presented to the Confederacy by the state of Georgia , one ironclad ram donated by the state of Alabama , and numerous privateers making war on Union merchant ships . Ensigns , jacks , and other naval flags . The practice of using primary and secondary naval flags after the British tradition was common practice for the Confederacy , linked as she was by both heritage and economy to the British Isles . The fledgling Confederate Navy therefore adopted detailed flag requirements and regulations in the use of battle ensign s , naval jack s , as well as small boat ensigns , commissioning pennant s , designating flags , and signal flag s aboard its warships . Changes to these regulations were made during 1863 , when a new naval jack , battle ensign , and commissioning pennant design was introduced aboard all Confederate ships , echoing the Confederacys change of its national flag from the old Stars and Bars to the new Stainless Banner ( as pictured above right ) . Despite the detailed naval regulations issued , minor variations in the flags were frequently seen , due to different manufacturing techniques employed , suppliers used , and the flag - making traditions of each southern state . Privateers . On 17 April 1861 , Confederate President Jefferson Davis invited applications for letters of marque and reprisal to be granted under the seal of the Confederate States , against ships and property of the United States and their citizens : President Davis was not confident of his executive authority to issue letters of marque and called a special session of Congress on 29 April to formally authorize the hiring of privateers in the name of the Confederate States . On 6 May the Confederate Congress passed " An act recognizing the existence of war between the United States and the Confederate States , and concerning letters of marque , prizes , and prize goods . " Then , on 14 May 1861 , " An act regulating the sale of prizes and the distribution thereof , " was also passed . Both acts granted the president power to issue letters of marque and detailed regulations as to the conditions on which letters of marque should be granted to private vessels , the conduct and behavior of the officers and crews of such vessels , and the disposal of such prizes made by privateer crews . The manner in which Confederate privateers operated was generally similar to those of privateers of the United States or of European nations . The 1856 Declaration of Paris outlawed privateering for such nations as Great Britain and France , but the United States had neither signed nor endorsed the declaration . Therefore , privateering was constitutionally legal in both the United and Confederate States , as well as Portugal , Russia , the Ottoman Empire , and Germany . However , the United States did not acknowledge the Confederate States as a nation and denied the legitimacy of any letters of marque issued by its government . Union President Abraham Lincoln declared all medicines to the South to be contraband and any captured Confederate privateers were to be hanged as pirates . Ultimately , no one was hanged for privateering because the Confederate government threatened to retaliate against Union prisoners of war . Initially , Confederate privateers operated primarily from New Orleans , but activity was soon concentrated in the Atlantic , as the Union Navy began expanding its operations . Confederate privateers harassed Union merchant ships and sank several warships , although they were unable to relieve the blockade on Southern ports and its dire affects on the Southern economy . Ships . One of the more well - known ships was CSS " Virginia " , formerly the sloop - of - war USS " Merrimack " ( 1855 ) . In 1862 , after being converted to an ironclad ram , she fought USS " Monitor " in the Battle of Hampton Roads , an event that came to symbolize the end of the dominance of large wooden sailing warships and the beginning of the age of iron and the ironclad warship . The Confederates also constructed submarine s , among the few that existed after the early " Turtle " of the American Revolutionary War . Of those the " Pioneer " and the Bayou St . John Confederate Submarine never did see action . However , the " Hunley " , built in New Orleans as a privateer by Horace Hunley , later came under the control of the Confederate Army at Charleston , SC , but was manned partly by a C . S . Navy crew ; she became the first submarine to sink a ship in a wartime engagement . " Hunley " sank for unknown reasons a short while after her successful attack on the sloop - of - war USS Housatonic . Confederate commerce raiders were also used with great success to disrupt Union merchant shipping . The most famous of them was the screw sloop - of - war CSS " Alabama " , a warship secretly built for the Confederacy in North West England . She was launched as " Enrica " but recommissioned just off the Azores , where she began her world famous raiding career . The similar raider CSS " Shenandoah " fired the last shot of the American Civil War in late June 1865 ; she did not strike her colors and surrender until early November 1865 , five months after the Civil War ended . See also : CSS " Sumter " — First Confederate ship to put to sea . Organization . Between the beginning of the war and the end of 1861 , 373 commissioned officers , warrant officers , and midshipmen had resigned or been dismissed from the United States Navy and had gone on to serve the Confederacy . The Provisional Congress meeting in Montgomery accepted these men into the Confederate Navy at their old rank . In order to accommodate them they initially provided for an officer corps to consist of four captains , four commanders , 30 lieutenants , and various other non - line officers . On 21 April 1862 , the First Congress expanded this to four admirals , ten captains , 31 commanders , 100 first lieutenants , 25 second lieutenants , and 20 masters in line of promotion ; additionally , there were to be 12 paymasters , 40 assistant paymasters , 22 surgeons , 15 passed assistant surgeons , 30 assistant surgeons , one engineer - in - chief , and 12 engineers . The act also provided for promotion on merit : " All the Admirals , four of the Captains , five of the Commanders , twenty - two of the First Lieutenants , and five of the Second Lieutenants , shall be appointed solely for gallant or meritorious conduct during the war . " Administration . By 20 July 1861 , the Confederate government had organized the administrative positions of the Confederate Navy as follows : < br >