I've seen sources that say the Tennessee had been framed - don't know if she was planked. Her engines were complete but disassembled and one source says they were loaded on a barge and hauled up the Yazoo. The rail iron for her casement was still sitting on the riverbank on the Arkansas side of the river when the Montgomery flotilla took on the Union river fleet. The shipyard for the Memphis ironclads seems to have been scratch built at Fort Randolph. You would suspect that Tennessee's engines were to be used on the 310 foot propeller and side-wheel ironclad Cdr. Brown had under construction at Yazoo City. Contractor Shirley actually owned a riverboat that was stripped of its engines about this time, but it is not clear whether they were shipped to Yazoo City or to Montgomery, AL where Shirley and Emerson were building a Nashville class side-wheel ironclad. This is the one that had a faulty launching and didn't reach service. I've never seen any information about whether the 310 foot ironclad at Yazoo City was a Navy Yard project or put out to a private contractor, or who the Chief Constructor or contractor would have been.