List of ships of the Confederate States Navy This is a list of ships of the Confederate States Navy ( CSN ) , used by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 . Included are some types of civilian vessels , such as blockade runners , steamboats , and privateer s which contributed to the war efforts by the CSN . Also included are special types of floating batteries and harbor defense craft . CSN Warships . The Secretary of the CS Navy , Stephen Mallory , was very aggressive on a limited budget in a land - focused war , and developed a two - pronged warship strategy of building ironclad warships for coastal and national defense , and commerce raiding cruisers , supplemented with exploratory use of special weapons such as torpedo boats and torpedoes . Batteries . Based upon the successful employment of ironclad warships , particularly batteries , at the Battle of Kinburn , Britain and France decided to focus on armor plated warships , starting with coastal battery designs . Initial ocean - going ironclad cruisers , such as the French and the British were only just emerging in 1859 and 1860 , and were beyond the budget and timeline necessary for rapid force deployment that the CS Navy needed for immediate coastal defenses in 1861 . Therefore , the Confederate Congress voted $ 2 million in May 1861 to buy ironclads from overseas , and in July and August started work on construction and converting wooden ships locally . On 12 October 1861 , the became the first ironclad to enter battle when she fought Union warships on the Mississippi . In February 1862 , the even larger joined the Confederate Navy , having been built at Norfolk . The Confederacy built a number of ships designed as versions of the " Virginia " , of which several saw action . In the failed attack on Charleston on April 7 , 1863 two small ironclads , and participated in the successful defense of the harbor . For the later attack at Mobile Bay , the Union faced the , the Confederacy ' s most powerful ironclad . Ironclad steam - powered batteries . The CS Navy ironclad steamer batteries were all designed for national coastal defense . Ironclad floating batteries . CS Navy ironclad floating batteries lacked steam engines for propulsion and were towed into firing positions . Wooden floating batteries . CS Navy wooden floating batteries were towed into firing positions , and as in the case at Charleston Harbor , used for makeshift defense . Cruisers . CS Navy cruisers were ocean - going ships designed primarily for the Confederate Navy ' s strategy of " guerre de course " . Confederate States Navy cruisers were typically lightly armed , with a couple of large guns or a pivot gun , and often very fast . The Navy planned to add ironclad cruisers to their fleet , successfully procuring one , but too late to be of benefit for the war . Ironclad cruisers . But the CS Navy attempts to procure ironclad cruisers from overseas were frustrated as European nations confiscated ships being built for the Confederacy . Only the " Stonewall " was completed and successfully delivered , and she arrived in American waters just in time for the end of the war . CS Army . CSA cotton - clads . Used for river defense , CS Army cottonclads were typically more lightly armored and reinforced than a regular ironclad , such as the " General Sterling Price " , which was converted by placing a 4 - inch oak sheath with a 1 - inch iron covering on her bow , and by installing double pine bulkheads filled with compressed cotton bales . Many of the cottonclads were outfitted with rams . River Defense Fleet cotton - clads : Other CS Army cotton - clads :