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USS Miantonomoh (1865)

History

The American Civil War (1861-1865) is remembered for the many land battles that took place on American soil, but thanks to the rise of ironclad warships, the country's rivers and coastal areas accounted for a sizable share of the fighting. Ironclads were used to control important rivers, ports and waterways, which were eventually captured by the North.

USS Miantonomoh is an iron monitor born during the war years, she was dropped in 1862. She was launched on August 15, 1873, but was only commissioned after the battle (i.e., September 18, 1865), to carry the Civil War as a pocket iron armor with no significant war service.

USS Miantonomoh is the second ship of the Miantonomoh-class iron guns. This group includes USS Agamenticus, USS Monadnock and USS Tonawanda.

The ship was laid at the New York Navy Yard (Brooklyn, NY) and was designed by John Lenthor. Lenthall took a slightly different approach with the new Monitor, increasing freeboard (the distance from the ship's waterline to the upper deck), which helped improve the ship's high seas capabilities at the expense of its combat survivability. To compensate for the extra exposed surface, several inches thick oak reinforced armor plates were added; 11 inches protected the two main turrets, 5.5 inches were mounted on the sides of the hull, and the deck received 1 inch armor protection. It displaces 3,455 tons, measures 226 feet long, 49.3 feet wide and has a draft of 12.9 feet.

The primary armament consisted of 2 x 15" (381 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns supported by 2 x 150 lb Parrott rifled barrels. Propulsion was provided by four horizontally retroactive engines, driven by a pair of threaded rods rated at 642 hp, Top speed is 9 knots Cruise speed is usually between 6 and 7 knots This machine was designed by Benjamin Isherwood The standard crew of this boat is 150 people

The silhouette of the Miantonomoh is dominated by a single pipe amidships, with each circular tower positioned forward and aft of the structure. Despite her increased freeboard, the ship still had a relatively low hull profile from the waterline, a stable mass for other ironclad ships of the war. The ship was well-equipped and well-armored, but the design was bulky and had a long turning radius, a feature common to many armored ships in the Civil War.

Her structure supporting each turret was also made of wood, which ultimately proved to be a flaw in her design - prone to rot and breakage under the pressure of heavy guns, and the general wear and tear of the Aral Sea buildup on the supports.

Miantonomoh's service career officially began in 1865 - the last year of the war. She was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron and for a time patrolled the back alleys of the East Coast of the United States.

After the war, she arrived in Europe the following year from New York via Nova Scotia/Newfoundland and then across the heart of the Atlantic. From the coast of Ireland, she landed at Cherbourg, France, in June 1866, and made several stops in European waters. She then traveled to the Baltic Sea in July for a conference in Russia, where she impressed Russian naval observers.

She then headed to the Caribbean, before settling in the United States on July 22 on League Island in Philadelphia.

Miantonomoh's service in the United States Navy came to an end, and she was discharged on July 26, 1867. However, she was soon re-appointed to limited service in November 1869, where she was used in the funeral procession of famous philanthropist/entrepreneur George Peabody during the voyage from London to Massachusetts.

With this work completed, the Miantonomoh was last decommissioned on July 28, 1870this time in Boston waters. In 1874, she was transferred to Pennsylvania waters as a cover for the U.S. newbuilding program.

When this decoy mission was completed, her hull was abandoned (1875), and only her name remains in the history books. In 1874 some of her remnants formed the new Amphitrite class (known as the "New Navy" Monitor) - one of which was named USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) in her honor, and served from 1882 to 1907 service.

The ship is detailed elsewhere on this page.