It would also allow the raider to silently bypass defenses at night, engines off allowing the current to carry them along.įixed enemy defenses consisted mainly of forts with guns overlooking the river to shoot at boats, river chains or "booms" to physically stop a boat usually in optimal range of the aforementioned guns, and underwater contact mines referred to as "torpedoes". If disabled the gunboat would float helplessly past enemy defenses into enemy territory, but that was where they were going anyway. This would allow them to bypass enemy defenses faster, and gave them more momentum to ram through barriers. The gunboat would be slow to close the range with the enemy, and it would be more difficult to ram through any barriers such as chains, but if disabled the gunboat would naturally float away from the enemy back to their lines.Ī gunboat on a raid behind enemy lines would prefer to attack downstream. High water was also a problem, river currents can be so strong that the weak and inefficient engines of a gunboat of that area cannot make much headway upstream.Ī gunboat wishing to bombard an enemy position would do better to attack upstream. Low water was a problem, rivers have sandbanks which shift requiring a guide to avoid grounding armor and guns added weight which increases the boat's draft. The troubles they ran into included simply navigating the river. River defenses were set up to protect against enemy raids and flank attacks. River gunboats were used to attempt to roam deep into enemy territory. Armament was typically the heaviest cannon the crew could lay their hands on and still float. They were often improvised from flat-bottomed side- or stern-wheeler civilian river boats and armored with layers of wood, iron, hay, and cotton. Both the Union and Confederacy employed river gunboats during the US Civil War.
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