What were the initial steps the Confederacy took to build an effective navy?

Answer 1

Stephen Russel Mallory, Secretary of CSS Navy, had correctly identified the three ways or systems which had to be adopted by the Confederacy in order to cope with the huge superiority in numbers of the US Navy:

- the submarine ambush, by means of the torpedoes warfare, developed by the director of a special bureau, Captain Matthew F. Maury, assisted by Captain Hunter Davidson, the inventor of the electric mine, which exploded by means of an electric impulse triggered at the proper moment by the defenders. This kind of warfare was further developed in the following years by means of the torpedo boats and submarines.

- the use of ironclads. In spite of lack of proper shipyard equipment, out of Norfolk, thanks to the mobilization of all existing rolling mills and little foundries, already in October 1861 there were five big ironclads under construction: Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas.

- the privateering, aiming to the destruction of the enemy's maritime trade. Mallory sent commander James D. Bulloch to Great Britain with the mission to acquire not only

further ironclads but, with priority, also the best type of conventional" cruisers, ready to be employed or to be built.

Furthermore, starting from May 6,1861, the Confederate Government put at disposal of private owners licenses to privateer.

Answer 2

When the US Civil War began, the Confederacy, basically had no navy to speak of. In order to jump start the building of a warship navy, Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent Confederate diplomats to England. There they arranged for the building of six warships, arms and ammunition. This puts to rest the idea that the English government was a "neutral" observer of the US Civil War.