CSS Phoenix was a Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 ironclad floating battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 built at Selma, Alabama

Selma, Alabama

Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....

 from 1863–64.

Huntsville

Phoenix was built at the Confederate Naval Works at Selma in 1863 and launched in March 1864. She was severely damaged during the launching and subsequently could not be used as a warship. She was brought to Mobile

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

 and scuttled by Confederate forces at the Dog River

Dog River (Alabama)

The Dog River is a river in Mobile County, Alabama. The Dog River watershed drains more than . The river is about long and is influenced by tides. It originates at within the city of Mobile. It discharges into Mobile Bay, a tidal estuary on the northern Gulf of Mexico, at near Hollinger's Island...

 Bar in Mobile Bay

Mobile Bay

Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...

 on August 7, 1864. She was blown up a few nights later by Union sailors from the USS Metacomet

USS Metacomet (1863)

The second USS Metacomet was a wooden sidewheel steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was named for Metacomet, a war chief of the Wampanoag Indians....

. The Confederates then burned her to the waterline. The wreck was located in 1985 and determined to be well preserved.