Shawn,

The Union navy took several prisoners from the Chattahoochee during a minor raid up the Apalachicola River in late April of 1863. From his interviews with these men, Lt. Commander George Morris on the Port Royal reported that the Chattahoochee had done 12 knots on a trial run down the Apalachicola and was drawing 5' draft forward and 8' aft.

Confederate reports indicate that on the day prior to the explosion, she steamed 20 miles down the Apalachicola with no major problems. According to Mallory's annual report, the accident was blamed by Lt. Guthrie (her commander) on "inattention."

Other personal correspondence by officers on the Chattahoochee report that her artillery trials were exceptional.

Although there were early mechanical problems following her launch, by the spring of 1863 she seems to have been functioning pretty well.

I agree with you, by the way, that the mere construction of such vessels was a remarkable achievement. While we can debate the quality of the Chattahoochee, the facts are that she had been built by inexperienced labor and an enterprising plantation owner at a place with no prior facilities and, by the spring of 1864, was a fully operational warship.

Dale