The ''Marietta''-class monitors were a pair of ironclad river monitors laid down in the summer of 1862 for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Construction was slow, partially for lack of labor, and the ships were not completed until December 1865, after the war was over. However the navy did not accept them until 1866 and immediately laid them up. They were sold in 1873 without ever having been commissioned.

Design and description

The ''Marietta''-class monitors were part of a large program of armored ships ordered after the

Battle of Hampton Roads The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the ''Monitor'' and ''Virginia'' (rebuilt and renamed from the USS ''Merrimack'') or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War. It was fought over t ...

caused the navy to favor monitors over the previous

casemate ironclad The casemate ironclad was a type of iron or iron-armored gunboat briefly used in the American Civil War by both the Confederate States Navy and the Union Navy. Unlike a monitor-type ironclad which carried its armament encased in a separate a ...

s of the . They were built to gain control of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and its many tributaries. The original plans for the ''Marietta''-class ships resembled the river monitor in many ways. The

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

was at the bow and they had a deckhouse

aft "Aft", in nautical terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning towards the stern (rear) of the ship, aircraft or spacecraft, when the frame of reference is within the ship, headed at the fore. For example, "Able Seaman Smith; lie aft!" or "Wh ...

. There were also twin

smokestack A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

s similar to the Mississippi River steamboat designs. The original plans also called for a forward, pyramidal pilothouse, similar to the one on , however it is believed that the pilothouse was moved to the top of the turret before construction was completed. The ''Marietta''-class ships were long overall. They had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draft of . They displaced . The ships had four steam

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

s powering two western steamboat-type engines that drove a single

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

.Silverstone, p. 150Some sources refer to four propellers. See Gibbons, p. 62 The ''Marietta''-class ships had a maximum speed of and they carried a maximum of of coal. The ships' main armament consisted of two smoothbore, muzzle-loading Dahlgren guns mounted in a single

.Konstam, p. 43 Each gun weighed approximately . They could fire a shell up to a range of at an elevation of 15°. The turret and the pilothouse were protected by of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

armor while the deck and hull had of armor.

Construction

The contract for the two ships was awarded to Tomlinson and Hartupee Co. on 16 May 1862. Construction was at their yard in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Progress was slow, delayed by labor shortages and changes by the navy. The

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

allocated $188,000 each for the construction of ''Marietta'' and ''Sandusky'', but the final cost rose to $235,039 after charges for extra work.

History

''Marietta'' was laid down in 1862, launched on 4 January 1865 and completed 16 December 1865. "She was accepted by the Navy on 25 April 1866. She was never commissioned. Soon after her acceptance ''Marietta'' was laid up at Mound City, Illinois. Renamed ''Circe'' on 15 June 1869, the gunboat carried that name only until 10 August, when she was again named ''Marietta''. Remaining at Mound City, ''Marietta'' was sold 12 April 1873 to David Campbell" for $16,000.Gibbons, p. 63 ''Sandusky'' was launched in mid-January 1865; "she was not completed until 26 December 1865, and was accepted by the Navy on 25 April 1866. Never commissioned, she was renamed ''Minerva'' on 15 June 1869; but resumed the name ''Sandusky'' on 10 August 1869. The monitor was sold at Mound City, Illinois, on 17 April 1873 to David Campbell" for $18,000.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * {{good article Ships built in Pittsburgh Ships of the Union Navy