However, after this promising start, significant delays plagued the new ironclad. It was not until more than a year after she was laid down that "Virginia II" was finally launched without incident on June 29, 1863. "She glided into the water 'like a thing of life' amid the prolonged cheers of the spectators." However, she suffered from further fitting-out delays and was not fully commissioned until May 18, 1864, almost a year later; she was made the flagship of the James River Squadron (replacing CSS "Richmond" in this role).