The ''Neosho''-class monitors were a pair of
ironclad river monitor
River monitors are military craft designed to patrol rivers.
They are normally the largest of all riverine warships in river flotillas, and mount the heaviest weapons. The name originated from the US Navy's , which made her first appearance in ...
s laid down in mid-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 ...
. After completion in mid-1863, both ships spent time patrolling 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 fl ...
against
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
raids and ambushes as part of
Rear Admiral David Porter's
Mississippi Squadron. Both ships participated in the
Red River Campaign in March–May 1864, although ''Osage'' supported the capture of
Fort DeRussy in March and participated in the
Battle of Blair's Landing in April. ''Osage'' was grounded on a
sandbar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...
for six months after the end of the campaign while ''Neosho'' resumed her patrols on the Mississippi. The latter ship supported the Union Army's operations on the
Cumberland River and provided fire support during the
Battle of Nashville in December.
''Osage'', after being refloated and repaired, was transferred to the
West Gulf Blockading Squadron
The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.
The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atla ...
in early 1865 for the campaign against
Mobile, Alabama. During the
Battle of Spanish Fort
The Battle of Spanish Fort took place from March 27 to April 8, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
After the Union victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Mobile ...
in March 1865 she struck a
mine and rapidly sank. The ship was later
salvaged and sold in 1867. ''Neosho'' was decommissioned after the war and remained in
reserve
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish
* Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County
* Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...
until sold in 1873.
Design and description
The original plans for the ''Neosho''-class ships, designed by
James Eads, resembled the s with a
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of , but the successful performance of the during the
Battle of Hampton Roads caused the navy to revise its requirement to include a
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 ...
. Eads responded with an impressive design that included a turret with of armor, a fully armored
sternwheel and a draft of , but the navy wanted even less draft and rejected his design. Eads adopted a
turtleback deck design that promised to only draw .
[
The steam-powered turret was at the bow and they had a deckhouse between the funnel and the sternwheel, although another was later added between the turret and the funnel. The ''Neosho''-class ships were long ]overall
Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers".
Overalls were ...
and had a beam of . When launched, they proved to have a draft deeper than planned and they measured 523 tons burthen
Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship bas ...
. 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, centr ...
s powering one two-cylinder, western steamboat-type engine that drove the sternwheel.[Silverstone, p. 109] The ''Neosho''-class ships had a maximum speed of in service and they carried of coal.[Gibbons, p. 57]
The ships' main armament consisted of two smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.
History
Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...
Dahlgren gun
Dahlgren guns were muzzle-loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN (November 13, 1809 – July 12, 1870), mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental e ...
s mounted in a single turret[Konstam, p. 42] that had an arc of fire of 300°. Firing the guns tended to jam the turret until modifications were made to the guns' recoil system.[ Each gun weighed approximately . They could fire a shell up to a range of at an elevation of 15°. The turret and the ]pilothouse
The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska">RV_Sikuliaq.html" ;"title="Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq">Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska
file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topp ...
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 inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
while the hull had of armor. The deck's armor plates were thick.[
]
Ships
Service history
''Neosho'' was commissioned at Cairo, Illinois on 13 May 1863, but was not completed until 1 July. She left Cairo on 14 July 1863 and reached Vicksburg on 6 August, just over a month after it had surrendered after a lengthy siege. ''Neosho'' and other warships patrolled the Mississippi and its tributaries to prevent Confederate raiders and flying batteries from ambushing Union supply ships. One example was on 8 December 1863 when "a Confederate shore battery attacked and disabled merchant steamer ''Henry Von Phul''; ''Neosho'' and steamed up to defend the ship and silenced the battery."
From 12 March to 22 May 1864, ''Neosho'' and ''Osage'' participated in the unsuccessful Red River Campaign under the command of Rear Admiral David Porter. During the retreat down the Red River, ''Neosho'' was trapped above the falls at Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...
, along with most of the other ironclads of the Mississippi Squadron, when the river's water level unexpectedly began to fall. Two temporary dams, known as Bailey's Dam, had to be built in April–May to raise the water level high enough to allow the ironclads to proceed downstream. During the Franklin-Nashville Campaign in December 1864 ''Neosho'', accompanied by the casemate ironclad , bombarded Confederate artillery batteries
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...
on the Cumberland River, near Bell's Mills, Tennessee, on 6 December. Despite being hit over 100 times, she was not seriously damaged. The monitor bombarded the Confederate right wing during the Battle of Nashville on 15–16 December.
''Neosho'' was decommissioned at Mound City, Illinois on 23 July 1865 and remained in ordinary
''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair o ...
. She was renamed ''Vixen'' 15 June 1869 and again renamed ''Osceola'' on 2 August 1869.[ The monitor was sold at Mound City to David Campbell 17 August 1873 for $13,600.
During the Red River Campaign ''Osage'' was commanded by ]Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...
Thomas O. Selfridge Jr. She participated in the capture of Fort DeRussy on 14 March 1864, shortly after the beginning of the campaign. She successfully defended the navy transports attacked during the Battle of Blair's Landing on 12 April, driving off the Confederate forces with heavy losses. After the end of the campaign in May she was assigned to patrol the Mississippi River. During that month she grounded on a sandbar near Helena, Arkansas
Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the n ...
and could not be refloated even when some of her armor was removed due to the rapidly falling water level. As the water receded ''Osage'' began to hog at the ends because only her middle was supported by the sand. This caused her longitudinal bulkheads to split and broke many rivets in her hull and on her deck. She was repaired in place before being refloated at the end of November.
After being towed to Mound City for more permanent repairs, ''Osage'' was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron
The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.
The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atla ...
on 1 February 1865 for the attack on Mobile, Alabama. She participated in the Battle of Spanish Fort, defending Mobile from the east, but struck a mine in a previously swept channel and sank rapidly on 29 March. Two crewmen were killed and some others wounded.[ The ship was later refloated and sold at auction at 22 November 1867,] along with three ex-Confederate ships, for $20,467.[
]
See also
* List of ironclads
The list of ironclads includes all steam-propelled warship (supplemented with sails in various cases) and protected by iron or steel armor plates that were built in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, between 1859 and the ea ...
Notes
References
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{{good article
Neosho-class monitors
Ships built in St. Louis
Ships of the Union Navy