The USS ''Ammonoosuc'' (later renamed USS ''Iowa'') was a steam frigate laid down by the

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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 ...

and was launched, apparently without ceremony, on 21 July 1864. She was intended to be used against the British should

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decide to take the side of the

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and attack the Northern part of the United States. However, as the war progressed, England's support of the Confederacy diminished, and the fast and powerful ''Ammonoosuc'' was never placed into service.

Naval buildup against English threat

From the outbreak of the

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, the

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Administration seemed to feel that the

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Government's sympathies lay with the Confederacy. The

Trent Affair The ''Trent'' Affair was a diplomatic incident in 1861 during the American Civil War that threatened a war between the United States and Great Britain. The U.S. Navy captured two Confederate envoys from a British Royal Mail steamer; the Brit ...

further strained

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, and the terrible toll exacted from Union shipping by

commerce raiding Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than en ...

Confederate cruisers built in England forced the Union Navy to make contingency plans for what appeared to be an increasingly likely war with England. With the

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considerably more powerful than its American counterpart, the

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decided that—should open hostilities with

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's empire break out—it would adopt its traditional strategy of preying on British merchant shipping. To prepare for such an eventuality, the Federal Navy Department embarked upon a program of developing very fast seagoing

steamships A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

capable of overtaking all ships they might pursue and of escaping from any they might wish to elude.

Ammonoosuc’s novel design

''Ammonoosuc'' was one of these steamers. Her hull was designed by Benjamin Franklin Delano to hold a pair of extremely powerful engines to be built at

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by the Morgan Iron Works according to plans drawn by Benjamin Franklin Isherwood for the screw frigate ''Wampanoag''. These engines were not ready when ''Ammonoosuc'' was launched and the collapse of the Confederacy prompted a significant slowdown on the work as that all but eliminated the Navy's need for fast, new warships. The engines were finally finished late in 1867, and ''Ammonoosuc's'' hull was towed to New York City so that they might be installed.

Initial sea trials

By late in the spring of 1868, the ship was finally ready to go to sea under her own power and departed New York City on 15 June for a run to Boston, Massachusetts at full speed. Dense fog over much of her course prevented her from proceeding at top velocity during most of the passage, but during one three-hour period she averaged 17.11 knots while moving from

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to Fort Warren, the highest sustained speed ever attained by a ship up to that time. Nevertheless, since an unusually large proportion of the space within her hull was taken up by her powerful engines and related machinery, the ship was not commissioned. Instead, she was laid up in the

. While there, ''Ammonoosuc'' was renamed ''Iowa'' on 15 May 1869.

Final disposition

She was sold at Boston on 27 September 1883 to the firm of Hubel and Porter, of Syracuse, New York.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ammonoosuc Ships of the Union Navy Ships built in Boston Sailing frigates of the United States Navy Steamships of the United States Navy 1864 ships

Naval buildup against English threat

Ammonoosuc’s novel design

Initial sea trials

Final disposition

See also

References