(All colours matt unless stated otherwise.)

CSS RICHMOND (and all the ironclads of the James River Squadron):
Matt or half matt black - hull, casemate, gun muzzles, pilot house & stack (funnel).
Scrubbed oak/or yellow pine - decks fore and aft, casemate top.
Tan or light brown - hatchways, ladders and boat interiors.
White - boat exteriors, ventilators and cowls.
Bronze - anchor chains, anchors and mooring bitts.

CSS RALEIGH & NORTH CAROLINA (?):
Very dark blue* - hull, casemate, pilot house & stack.
Black or unfinished iron  - gun muzzles.
Scrubbed oak/or yellow pine - decks fore and aft, casemate top.
Tan or light brown - hatchways, ladders and boat interiors.
White - boat exteriors, ventilators and cowls.
Bronze - anchor chains, anchors and mooring bitts.

* based on a recent painting of the Raleigh at sea,
apparently done from eyewitness description.

Note: CSS North Carolina may never have been painted, use a mix of matt black
and silver to produce 'unfinished iron'.

CSS SAVANNAH (and all the ironclads of the Savannah Squadron):
Mid grey - hull, casemate, pilot house & gun muzzles.
Scrubbed oak/or yellow pine - decks fore and aft, casemate top.
Tan or light brown - hatchways, ladders and boat interiors.
White - boat exteriors, ventilators and cowls.
Mid grey - 12pdr gun carriages.
Bronze - 12pdr gun barrels, anchor chains, anchors and mooring bitts.

CSS PALMETTO STATE & CHICORA (and all the ironclads of the Charleston Squadron):
Very pale grey or blue - hull, casemate, pilot house, stack.
Scrubbed oak/or yellow pine - decks fore and aft, casemate top.
Tan or light brown - hatchways, ladders and boat interiors.
White - boat exteriors, ventilators and cowls, spar of spar torpedoes.
Mid grey - 12pdr gun carriages.
Bronze - 12pdr gun barrels, anchor chains, anchors and mooring bitts.
Copper - warhead of spar torpedoes.

All the squadrons mentioned above were the nearest the CSN got to 'regular' navy and all were kept in good condition, particularly the Charleston and Savannah vessels.

The ironclads were painted with various compositions of coal tar (in a variety of colours, including white!), consequently external corrosion, at least above water, was never reported.

More to follow!

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SOURCES - Organisations:
The Science Museum, England
The National Maritime Museum, England
The Liverpool Maritime Museum, England
Woodruff Museum of Civil War Maritime History, USA
Musee de Marine, France
Turkish Naval Museum, Turkey
International Naval Research Organisation (INRO)
The US Naval Institute, USA

SOURCES - Publications include:
Civil War Naval Chronology
Iron Afloat
Confederate Shipbuilding
Civil War Ironclads
Pictorial History of the Confederate Navy
Ironclads in Action
The Confederate Ironclads
Battle Flags South
History of the Confederate States Navy
Dictionary of American Fighting Ships 1815-1945
Die Deutschen Kreigschiff
Vor Panzerskribe
British Battleships
Warship International
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War
All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905
Photographic History of the Civil War
Warships of the Civil War Navies
Warships and Naval Battles of the Civil War
History of the Confederate States Navy
Thunder Along the Mississippi
The Confederate Navy, The Ships
The Evolution of Confederate Ironclad Design

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