were only thirty-six regular shipbuilding yards in the seceded Confederate states.
             Between 1849 and 1858 the volume of ship construction throughout the South was enormous, more than two thousand vessels were built. Most of the larger crafts built in the Southern were built at the important for exporting goods in coastal towns such as Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah. Later, small towns, which were often, located miles up winding, shallow rivers, would play an important part in creating a navy. After the fall of large Southern cities in mid-1862 then the main need was for small, shallow-draft, well-protected craft able to navigate Southern waters. As luck would have it, these were the very types of craft that such yards could produce.
             One off the biggest difficulties for the south began when iron was introduced. At first both the North, the South could not produce two inch thick iron plates. Eventually three companies were able to produce armor of the required thickness, but it took a very long time to achieve. At the same time, the Confederate Navy Department tried to start up new mills, but without success. Another problem was getting iron, in 1860 from a total of ninety-six mines and eighty-two mills, only eleven were of large enough size to meet production needs. The production in Pennsylvania alone could produce more iron then the entire output of the South.
             Also, the production of suitable machinery was a constant problem and many Confederate ironclads were lost because they lacked enough power for the vessels. In 1860 there were nearly one hundred engineering establishments, but most of them were small. However, a few larger companies, such as Leeds & Co. and Clarke Co. at New Orleans and Shockoe Co. at Richmond did their best to deal with the flood of work, but no matter how hard they tried, they were let down by the ever-increasing shortage of skilled workers.
             Weapons on warships were another l...