CSS David was an American Civil War-era torpedo boat. On October 5, 1863, she undertook a partially successful attack on which was participating in the blockade of Charleston, South Carolina.
Construction
Based upon a design by St. Julien Ravenel, David was built as a private venture by T. Stoney at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863, and was put under the control of the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The cigar-shaped boat carried a explosive charge of gunpowder on the end of a spar projecting forward from her bow. Designed to operate very low in the water, David resembled in general a submersible submarine; she was, however, strictly a surface vessel.
left|thumb|Photograph of a captured David-class torpedo boat (possibly CSS David herself), taken after the fall of Charleston in 1865
left|thumb|The wreck of CSS David
The next four months of Davids existence are obscure. She or other torpedo boats tried more attacks on Union blockaders; reports from different ships claim three such attempts, all unsuccessful, during the remainder of October 1863. On March 6, 1864, David attacked in the North Edisto River. The torpedo boat struck the blockader first on the port quarter, but the torpedo did not explode. Memphis slipped her chain, at the same time firing ineffectively at David with small arms. Putting about, the torpedo boat struck Memphis again, this time a glancing blow on the starboard quarter; once more the torpedo misfired. Since Memphis had now opened up with her heavy guns, David, having lost part of her stack when rammed, retreated up the river out of range. Memphis, undamaged, resumed her blockading station. Spence used still existing houses in the pictures to triangulate where they might be. Using a ground penetrating radar, operated by Claude E. "Pete" Petrone of National Geographic Magazine, the expedition located two radar anomalies consistent with what would be expected of the two wrecks. The anomalies were under present-day Tradd Street, so no excavation was done. A post-war letter written by David C. Ebaugh, who supervised the construction of David, described her as abandoned at what was then the foot of Tradd Street.
right|thumb|The large "David"-type steamer at Charleston in 1865
Other "David"s
"David" came to be the generic term for any torpedo boat resembling this David. This vessel was taken to Washington DC.