Here is what others are saying about our CSS Albemarle replica!

"Congratulations are due to the Civil War Naval History Group in Plymouth.  The CSS Albemarle.....construction of a sailing representative of the famous and most successful Confederate ironclad is a great achievement.  The Civil War will be brought to life.  The public will learn a great deal from this significant ship and those who use it.  This is an important contribution to our recovery and understanding of the past."  
Dr. Timothy J. Runyan
Director, Maritime Studies Program
East Carolina University                                  
"....most impressive and looks ready to take on both the Union Army and Navy once again!  The April 1864 victory at Plymouth in which the Albemarle played such an important role rejuvenated hopes throughout the South that victory was still possible for the Confederacy.  This great victory that took place on the Roanoke River has long been overlooked and a replica of the Albemarle will go a long way in bringing alive the history of that story."

Tom Belton
Curator of Military History
North Carolina Museum of History
"Much attention has been drawn of late to Civil War naval history with archaeology on the CSS Alabama off the coast of France and on the USS Monitor off Cape Hatteras, and with the raising of the CSS Hunley in Charleston harbor.  Now the pace is quickening with the reproduction of the ram Albemarle.

The public will for the first time see a Confederate gunboat afloat and begin to understand what it was like to be a naval tar in the Civil War.  The ram Albemarle will drw immediate interest and fill voids in this area of study of nation's history."

Ed Merrell
Administrator, Museum of the Albemarle
Chairman, North Carolina Civil War tourism Council

"I visited Plymouth about two years ago and at our recent council meeting there, I was impressed to see the progress you have made with your various maritime heritage projects.  Your maritime museum, the river lighthouse replica, and the CSS Albemarle replica will showcase Plymouth's rich maritime and Civil War history.  For historians who believe that our discipline is both an intangible and a tangible asset, it is gratifying to observe your community grasp that concept and so successfully apply it in a revitalization project.  Today we find an awakened downtown Plymouth that is  on the verge of a transformation into a regionally significant center of Cavil War naval history and the maritime history of the lower Roanoke River.  We recommend you for your community vision and energetic and creative leadership. Plymouth is already the model and is setting a high standard for community revitalization based on heritage tourism."

Lindley S. Butler, Chair
North Carolina Maritime History Council
Author, Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders
"There have been a number of replicas of Civil War ships such as the Monitor built over the years, but yours is one of the best that I have seen.  It certainly will be an enormous asset in educating the public about the Civil War naval history and particularly the Confederate ironclads.

The Albemarle, of course, is one of the most successful of the confederate armorclads, perhaps the most successful considering her most important contribution to the Confederate victory at Plymouth in April 1864 and her ability to withstand the onslaught of a large force of Union warships later in the Albemarle Sound.

I don't feel that the ALBEMARLE has received the acclaim that she so richly deserves.  Hopefully, what you and the people of Plymouth are doing will rectify this situation."

William N. Still, Jr.
Professor Emeritus and former Director, Program in Maritime History and Underwater Archaeology
Current Member of the SecNav sub-committee on Naval History
Former research chair of the Naval Historical Center
Recipient of the Harry S. Truman Award for contributions to American History
Author of:
     RAIDERS AND BLOCKADERS: THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR AFLOAT
     IRON AFLOAT: THE STORY OF CONFEDERATE ARMORCLADS
     THE CONFEDERATE NAVE: THE SHIPS, MEN AND ORGANIZATIONS
     AMERICAN SEA POWER IN THE OLD WORLD
     THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN EUROPEAN AND NEAR EASTERN WATERS  1865-1917