CSS Raleigh was a steam-powered casemate ironclad fitted with a spar torpedo instead of an iron ram; she was built by the Confederate States Navy at Wilmington, North Carolina in 1863-64, with Lieutenant John Wilkinson (1821-1891), CSN, commanding. She was then put into commission on April 30, 1864 under the command of Lieutenant J. Pembroke Jones, CSN. Built to chief CSN constructor John L. Porter's similar plans for those of the ironclad CSS North Carolina, she had been laid down and launched at the foot of Church Street; her fitting out was completed by the shipyard J. L. Cassidey & Sons.