What was the name of the Confederate ironclad that defended Mobile Bay under Admiral Buchanan? It was the CSS Tennessee.
Built near Selma, Alabama, the CSS Tennessee became the flagship of Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan, who commanded the Mobile Squadron. She was a heavily armored casemate ironclad ram designed to withstand concentrated naval gunfire.
During the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, Tennessee was the only Confederate ironclad in the lower bay. After the rest of the Confederate flotilla was defeated or scattered, Buchanan took Tennessee directly against Admiral David Farragut’s larger Union fleet. Several Union ships rammed her, while heavy gunfire damaged her steering gear and disabled her ability to maneuver.
Tennessee surrendered after being surrounded and battered by multiple Union vessels. The Union captured and recommissioned her as USS Tennessee. She is easily confused with CSS Virginia, which fought at Hampton Roads, or CSS Albemarle, which operated in North Carolina.