This comprehensive guide to the Confederate Navy, covers the ships and men, the organization and facilities, the strategy and tactics, and compiles the operations, including those on the Western rivers. Although short-lived, the Confederate States Navy was one of the most innovative of all time, introducing the ironclad, the spar torpedo, a nd the submersible to naval warfare, and re-defining classic strategies, such as commerce raiding for the steam age. It was a scratch force, created almost overnight and always short of resources, but its achievements were considerable.