C. S. S. Virginia Armor Shipping Impact

See a similar article on the Atlanta armor shipments in the lower South here
   Navy capital ships have always been very expensive in terms of money, manpower and resources. For the Confederacy, the cost of its ironclads was mostly in terms of iron and railroad shipping used. The shipping had to include the movements from the source of the iron, to the rolling mill and then to the shipyard. (The requirements for wood shipping were also large, but the records are too incomplete for analysis.) 
   Below is presented the information derived from the Confederate Navy construction documents in the National Archives, as far as the data is present, for the conversion of the CSS Virginia at Gosport Naval Yard in Portsmouth, Va. Much of the iron for the armor came from western Virginia, some by railroad and much by boat down the James River. Since armor could use lower quality iron than artillery tubes, much scrap iron was also in the armor plates. The source of the armor plates is the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. Transportation to Portsmouth appears to have been entirely by railroad.
   The Navy attempted to improve the speed of the shipments by working with the railroads. here  and here
Date Tons Plate (1) Railroads (3) Cars/Car Numbers
10/9/61 (4) 1 Eastern 1 (2)
10/12/61 18 E 3
10/13/61 6 E 1
10/15/61 20 E 3
10/16/61 29 E 4
10/18/61 4 E 1
10/19/61 11 E 2
10/21/61 15 E 2
10/22/61 7 E 1
10/23/61 8 E 1
10/25/61 13 E 2
10/30/61 21 E 3
10/31/61 8 E 1
10/31/61 1 Western 1
11/1/61 7 W R&D 126, 73
11/2/61 12 W R&D 13, 73
11/2/61 19 W R&D 43, 12, 121, 12, 121 (5)
11/4/61 22 W R&D 117, 162, 117, 162, 16, 32
11/5/61 14 W R&D 101, 120
11/5/61 7 E 1
11/7/61 19 W R&D 137, 112, 57, 112
11/8/61 16 E 2
11/9/61 9 E 1
11/14/61 13 E 2
11/14/61 25 W R&D 3, 43, 124, 159
11/15/61 15 W R&D 39, 40
11/15/61 24 W R&D 8, 56, 85, SS 122
11/18/61 15 W R&D 14, 149
11/19/61 15 W R&D 95, 38, 71
11/21/61 10 E 2
11/22/61 11 W SS 12, 68
11/25/61 3 W R&D 30
11/26/61 4 W SS 120
11/29/61 9 W SS 33, 133, 33
12/2/61 17 E 2
12/2/61 5 W SS 13
12/3/61 19 W SS 200, 183, 160
12/6/61 12 W SS 112, 7
12/6/61 6 W SS 79
12/11/61 19 W SS 5, 9, 70
12/19/61 12 W SS 111, 8
12/19/61 6 W SS93
12/20/61 10 W SS 182, 95
1/18/62 29 Southern 4
1/20/62 3 E 1
3/20/62 12 E 2
4/26/62   S 21(6)
  618   120
Notes: (1) Long tons, 2240 lbs
(2) Short tons, 2000 lbs
(3) Eastern Route: Richmond & Petersburg RR, Norfolk & Petersburg RR (plates had to be removed from the R&P cars and reloaded on the N&P cars because of a gauge change)
Western Route: Richmond & Danville RR, South Side RR, Norfolk & Petersburg RR (cars ran through from Richmond to Portsmouth without enroute handling) 
Southern Route: (From Atlanta) Seaboard & Roanoke RR
(4) If a date is given twice, it indicates two separate shipping documents, indicative of two separate train movements
(5) If a car number shows up twice, it indicates two separate shipping movements on the same date
  (6) Reported in Charleston on this date here. Probably not armor, due to the date.
   The above is not a study of placing the armor on the Virginia, only a study of the railroad movements from the available documents. The totals may not match Tredegar records, since some railroad records may be missing.
   The short distance from Richmond to Portsmouth allowed two and even three round trips per day of the same rolling stock. It is interesting to note the shift from the Eastern route to the Western route, almost exclusively, starting October 31 and to note the South Side RR replacing the Richmond & Danville RR on the Western route starting in late November. My guess is that the Navy preferred the Western route since each trip was faster because there was no unloading and reloading required on that route. However, the Richmond & Danville RR was the best way to get Richmond-produced war products to the west, having a connection with the Virginia & Tennessee RR, and was fully occupied in shipping to the central South.

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