USS ''Dictator'' was a single-turreted ironclad

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

, designed for speed, and to sail on the open sea. Originally to be named , the Navy Department preferred a more aggressive name, and she was renamed ''Dictator''. Despite her being designed for speed, design problems limited her to a maximum of . She served in two different periods; from 1864 to 1865, serving with the

North Atlantic 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 Atlantic ...

, and from 1869 to 1877, with the

North Atlantic Fleet The North Atlantic Squadron was a section of the United States Navy operating in the North Atlantic. It was renamed as the North Atlantic Fleet in 1902. In 1905 the European and South Atlantic squadrons were abolished and absorbed into the Nort ...

. After her final

decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decommi ...

in 1877, she was sold for scrap in 1883.

Description

''Dictator'' was long, wide, had 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 , and displaced . She had a top speed of , and was propelled by two screws and a two-cylinder Ericsson vibrating lever-engine, with a total of . It is thought that she had a light hurricane deck amidships. She was designed to carry 1,000 tons of coal. She was armed with two Dahlgren

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 ...

guns. She had 15 inches of armor on the turret, on the

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, on the hull, and on the deck. She had a crew of 174 men.

Service history

Originally she was to be called , however she was named ''Dictator'' on 1 April 1862, after

John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which co ...

requested it from the Assistant Secretary of the Navy,

Gustavus Fox Gustavus Vasa Fox (June 13, 1821 – October 29, 1883) was an officer of the United States Navy, who served during the Mexican–American War, and as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War. Life and career Fox was born at Saugus, Ma ...

. ''Dictator'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

by Delamater Iron Works, in New York, New York, under contract with John Ericsson on 16 August 1862, and launched on 26 December 1863. The ship was commissioned on 11 November 1864, under the command of Commander J. Rodgers, with a crew of 174. Construction problems with her

powerplant Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...

kept her initial service relatively brief and inactive. Assigned to duty with

, ''Dictator'' cruised on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

from 15 December 1864 until placed out of commission on 5 September 1865 at the

League Island League Island was an island in the Delaware River, part of the city of Philadelphia, just upstream from the mouth of the Schuylkill River. The island was developed as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Since the late 20th century, it has been ...

Navy Yard. She 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 ...

there until 1869. The ship was recommissioned on 20 July 1869, with a repair cost of $59,654.27. ''Dictator'' served with the

until 28 June 1871 when she was again placed out of commission. She was in ordinary at New York Navy Yard until 12 January 1874 when she was recommissioned for service on the North Atlantic Station. ''Dictator'' was decommissioned at League Island on 1 June 1877 and remained there until sold on 27 September 1883, to A. Purvis & Son, for a cost of $40,250 dollars.

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dictator Ships built in New York City Monitors of the United States Navy Ironclad warships of the Union Navy 1863 ships American Civil War monitors of the United States