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The green paint is interesting. Reading John's book and reading other sources it seems pretty clear that whatever color was used on Confederate ironclads had more to do with availability of the paint then actual planning. And once the paint was gone maintenance must of been hard. And any home made combination of making the metal and wood rust/rot resistant would've also made it prone to lite up. Iron armor may not burn but if the "paint" used catches lite then that could not be good! So many problems.
As for the deck clutter I am guessing that "less is more" may be true. From art work the early ironclads of the South were decked out with all the "stuff" on a ship in any navy, but I know that by late war the "government" was having trouble issuing cotton canvas flies to the CSS Georgia. Yep. No cotton canvas in a King Cotton state by late war. And the CSS Chattahoochee had all her deck clutter (anchors, rigging, sails, ropes) stolen at least once when in for repairs after a boiler explosion. So a little gun boat like the Yadkin may have been low down on the food chain. This may be why her thin armor was stripped from her late in the war. However, having a working engine should have given her points.
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