Confederate States Navy (C. S. N.)

CONFEDERATE STATES NAVY (C. S. N.) -  The Navy of the Confederate States (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, fighting against the U.S. Navy.  The French quote "aide-toi et le Ciel t'aidera" translates "God helps those who help themselves."

The three major tasks of the Confederate navy during the whole of its existence were the protection of Confederate harbors and coastlines from outside invasion, making the war costly for the U.S. by attacking American merchant ships worldwide and breaking the U.S. blockade by drawing off U.S. Navy ships in pursuit of the Confederate raiders.  The Confederate navy could never achieve numerical equality with the U.S. Navy, so it used technological innovation, such as ironclads, submarines, torpedo boats, and naval mines (then known as torpedoes) to gain advantage. In February 1861 the Confederate Navy had 30 vessels, only 14 of which were seaworthy. The Union Navy had 90 vessels. The C. S. Navy eventually grew to 101 ships to meet the rise in naval threats and conflicts.