CSS[a] Baltic was an ironclad warship that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.

Baltic's condition in Confederate service was such that naval historian William N. Still Jr. has described her as "a nondescript vessel in many ways".

[6] From the beginning of the conflict, the Confederates were at a distinct disadvantage compared to the Union Navy due a lack of available ships, infrastructure, and manufacturing capabilities.

[13] According to Bisbee, the vessel was taken to Mobile, Alabama, after her construction by Bragdon,[1] but the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) says that she was built for the Southern Steamship Company.

[1][3] On November 8, 1861, the Alabama General Assembly passed legislation appropriating $150,000 for an ironclad that could serve as both a gunboat and as a ram.

[9] The state government formed a commission to select a vessel for conversion,[1] and the sidewheel steamer Baltic[11] was bought on December 13 at a cost of $40,000.

The process of converting her into a casemate ironclad began on December 22[1] and enlarged the ship's dimensions, increasing the length to 186 feet (56.7 m), the beam to 38 ft (11.6 m),[1] and her tonnage to 624 tons.

[3] The ship's propulsion machinery consisted of two single-cylinder steam engines with a bore of 22 inches (56 cm) and a 7 ft (2.1 m) stroke.

[17] The changes needed to convert her into an ironclad made her very slow; Silverstone and the DANFS list her speed as 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph), and Bisbee describes it as "not [...] more than a man's walking pace".

[10] By February 1863, the ship was too dilapidated for active service,[10] and she was relegated to placing naval mines to protect Mobile Bay.

[26] After her armor was removed, Confederate naval officer John Randolph Tucker noted that engineers had declared her boilers to be unsafe and that they were having to be patched.

[11] Bisbee believes that Baltic was probably broken up at some point in 1866 and suggests that the ship's known poor condition and the lack of further records relating to her indicate that she was likely not used for any other purposes.