CSS Richmond The CSS Richmond was the Confederate’s first purpose-built casemate ironclad and the lead ship of a class that eventually totaled six ships. She was laid down in the same Norfolk, VA drydock where the USS Merrimac was converted into the CSS Virginia. She was towed up the James River when Norfolk fell and completed at Rockett’s Landing in Richmond, whereupon she became the first ironclad in the “Capital Navy” guarding Richmond. That fleet eventually also included CSS Virginia II, CSS Fredericksburg, and CSS Texas. Richmond, Virginia II and Fredericksburg were blown up on 3 April 1865 as Union forces approached the capital. The unfinished Texas fell into Union hands. Specifications: Length-172’, Beam-45’, Draft-12’, Tonnage-850t, Speed-6kts, Crew-180, Armor-4” Casemate, Armament- Four 7” Brooke Rifles. Finished- Richmond, VA. 1862 The Model: 1/72 Scale, 35” Long. The scratch built model represents the “casemate” configuration that characterized virtually all Confederate Ironclads of which no less than 22 were commissioned during the war. The “scaled down” nature of these subsequent ships is indicated by the fact that shortages of iron for armor and of rifled cannon for armament dictated only four cannon (vs ten on CSS Virginia) housed in a shortened casemate.