The first USS ''Milwaukee'', a double-turreted river monitor, the lead ship of her class, built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The ship supported Union forces during the Mobile Campaign as they attacked Confederate fortifications defending the city of

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

in early 1865. She struck a mine in March and sank without loss. Her wreck was raised in 1868 and broken up for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

that was used in the construction of a bridge in St. Louis, Missouri.

Description

''Milwaukee'' was long overall and 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 . The ship had a

depth of hold Depth(s) may refer to: Science and mathematics * Three-dimensional space * Depth (ring theory), an important invariant of rings and modules in commutative and homological algebra * Depth in a well, the measurement between two points in an oil w ...

of Canney, p. 114 and a draft of . She had 970 tons burthen and displaced .Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 123 Her crew numbered 138 officers and enlisted men.Silverstone, p. 111 The ship was powered by two 2-cylinder horizontal non-condensing steam engines, each driving two propellers, using steam generated by seven tubular

boilers 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 ...

. The engines were designed to reach a top speed of . ''Milwaukee'' carried of coal. The ship's main armament consisted of four smoothbore, muzzle-loading 11-inch Dahlgren guns mounted in two twin- gun turrets. Her forward turret was designed by

James Eads James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and her rear turret by John Ericsson. Each gun weighed approximately and could fire a shell up to a range of at an elevation of +15°. The cylindrical turrets were protected by eight layers of wrought iron plates. The sides of the hull consisted of three layers of one-inch plates, backed by of pine. The deck was heavily cambered to allow headroom for the crew on such a shallow draft and it consisted of iron plates thick. The pilothouse, positioned behind and above the fore turret, was protected by of armor.

Construction and service

James Eads was awarded the contracts for all four of the ''Milwaukee''-class ships. He laid down ''Milwaukee'' at his Union Iron Works

Carondelet, St. Louis Carondelet is a neighborhood in the extreme southeastern portion of St. Louis, Missouri. It was incorporated as an independent city in 1851 and was annexed by the City of St. Louis in 1870. As of the 2000 Census, the neighborhood has a popula ...

in 1862. The first U.S. Navy ship to be named after the Wisconsin city, she was launched on 4 February 1864 and commissioned on 27 August 1864. Acting Volunteer Lieutenant James W. Magune was in command.''Milwaukee'' ''Milwaukee'' was initially assigned to the

Mississippi Squadron The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union brown-water naval squadron that operated on the western rivers during the American Civil War. It was initially created as a part of the Union Army, although it was commanded by naval officers, and ...

upon commissioning, but saw no action before she was ordered south to join West Gulf Blockading Squadron. The ship departed Mound City, Illinois on 15 October and arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana 12 days later. Lieutenant Commander James H. Gillis relieved Magune on 22 November. She was still under repair there on 27 November, although ''Milwaukee'' reached Mobile Bay by 1 January 1865. Although the victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864 had closed the port of Mobile to

blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

s, the city itself had not been taken. The Confederates fortified the approaches to the city and heavily mined the shallow waters surrounding it. On 27 March 1865, ''Milwaukee'', together with several other Union ships,

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...

d upriver in an attempt to cut communications between Spanish Fort and Mobile. The following day she and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

steamed up the Blakely River to attack a Confederate transport and forced it to retreat. While returning downriver ''Milwaukee'' struck a mine in an area previously swept. She remained afloat forward, which permitted her crew to escape without loss. Another of her sisters, , rescued the survivors.ORN, Vol. 22, p. 71 In 1868 the wreck was raised and towed to St. Louis and broken up; her iron was used in the construction of the Eads Bridge across the Mississippi River.

Notes

References

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External links

Photo gallery
at Naval Historical Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Milwaukee (1864) Milwaukee-class monitors Ships built in St. Louis 1864 ships Ships of the Union Navy American Civil War monitors of the United States Ships sunk by mines Shipwrecks in rivers Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Maritime incidents in March 1865