![]() Onondaga at anchor on the James River, c. 1864–1865 | |
History | |
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Name | Onondaga |
Namesake | A lake and county in New York |
Ordered | 26 May 1862 |
Builder | Continental Iron Works, Greenpoint, Brooklyn |
Laid down | 1862 |
Launched | 29 July 1863 |
Sponsored by | Sally Sedgwick |
Commissioned | 24 March 1864 |
Decommissioned | 8 June 1865 |
Fate | Sold to her builder, 7 March 1867, and subsequently resold to France |
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Name | Onondaga |
Acquired | 7 March 1867 |
Stricken | 2 December 1904 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 1904 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Type | Double-turreted monitor |
Displacement | 2,592 long tons (2,634 t) |
Tons burthen | 1,250 tons (bm) |
Length | 226 ft (68.9 m) (o/a) |
Beam | 51 ft 5 in (15.7 m) |
Draft | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
Depth | 12 ft 10 in (3.9 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 × propellers; 2 × back-acting steam engines |
Speed | 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
Range | 720 nmi (1,330 km; 830 mi) |
Complement | 130 officers and enlisted men |
Armament |
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Armor |
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USS Onondaga was an ironclad monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Commissioned in 1864, the ship spent her entire active career with the James River Flotilla covering the water approaches to the Confederate States capital of Richmond, Virginia, although her only notable engagement was the Battle of Trent's Reach. After the war, she was purchased by France where she served as a coastal defense ship in the French Navy (Marine Nationale).
Onondaga saw little active service with the French, spending most of the next four decades in reserve, although she was mobilized during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The monitor became a guard ship in 1898, but she was stricken from the naval register and sold for scrap in 1904; the ship was demolished in 1905.
Onondaga had an overall length of 226 feet (68.9 m) and a beam of 51 feet 5 inches (15.7 m). [1] She was overweight and her draft of 12 feet (3.7 m) was almost a foot deeper than intended. The ship had a depth of hold of 12 feet 10 inches (3.9 m), [2] a tonnage of 1,250 tons burthen and displaced 2,592 long tons (2,634 t ). Her crew consisted of 130 officers and enlisted men. [1] Onondaga was powered by a pair of two-cylinder horizontal back-acting steam engines, built by the Morgan Iron Works, each driving one 10-foot (3 m) propeller using steam generated by four vertical water-tube boilers. [2] The engines had a combined rating of 642 indicated horsepower (479 kW ) that gave the ship a speed of 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph). [1] She carried 160 long tons (163 t) of coal [3] which gave her a range of 720 nautical miles (1,330 km; 830 mi). [4] The propellers were protected from underwater obstacles by iron rings. [2]
The monitor's main battery consisted of a pair of smoothbore, muzzle-loading, 15-inch (381 mm) Dahlgren guns and another pair of 150-pounder (8-inch (203 mm)) Parrott rifles. One of each type was mounted in the two twin-gun turrets. Her pilothouse was built on the roof of the forward turret. [1] Steam power to rotate each turret was provided by a two-cylinder donkey engine. [2] The nine-caliber Dahlgren guns weighed 42,900 pounds (19,500 kg). They could fire a 350-pound (159 kg) shell up to a range of 1,700 yards (1,600 m) at an elevation of +5°. The Parrott rifles were 17 calibers long and weighed 16,550 pounds (7,510 kg). Their 155-pound (70 kg) projectiles had a range of 2,100 yards (1,900 m) at the same elevation. [5]
As designed the exposed area of the hull was protected by 4.5-inch-thick (110 mm) wrought-iron plates, but John Ericsson, designer of the USS Monitor, suggested that the side armor be reinforced with additional wood inside the armor belt in April 1863. As most of the armor had already been mounted by this time, the shipyard simply added 12 inches (305 mm) of wood to the exterior of the armor and sheathed it with a 1-inch (25 mm) armor plate. The weight of the wood was partially responsible for increasing Onondaga's draft by almost a foot more than was designed. The armor of the turrets and the pilot house atop the forward turret consisted of layers of 0.9375-inch-thick (23.8 mm) armor plates totaling 11 inches (279 mm) in thickness. A 5-by-15-inch (127 by 381 mm) soft iron band was fitted around the base of the turrets to prevent shells and fragments from jamming them as had happened during the First Battle of Charleston Harbor in April 1863. Onondaga's deck was protected by two layers of one-inch plates [6] and the base of the funnel was armored as well. [3]
The Navy solicited bids for a twin-turret ironclad for harbor and coastal service on 20 February 1862 and accepted George W. Quintard's design that generally followed the specifications, albeit built in iron rather than wood and using Ericsson's turrets rather than those designed by Cowper Coles. [7] The Navy ordered Onondaga from Quintard on 25 May [3] at a cost of $625,000; he was the manager of the Morgan Iron Works and built the engines while sub-contracting the rest of the ship to the Continental Iron Works, also in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. [8]
Onondaga, the first U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, was launched on 29 July 1863 and was sponsored by Sally Sedgwick, daughter of former U.S. Representative Charles B. Sedgwick. She was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 24 March 1864 with Captain Melancthon Smith in command. [9] Construction was delayed by shortages of material, labor and the closing of the shipyard during the New York City draft riots in July 1863. The ship cost $759,673.08, a budget overrun of almost 22 percent. [2]
Escorted by the gunboat USS Mattabesett, the ship departed New York City on 21 April and arrived at Hampton Roads in Union-occupied Virginia two days later. Assigned to the James River Flotilla, she supported General Ulysses S. Grant's drive on Richmond, Virginia. [9] Together with the other ships of the flotilla, Onondaga patrolled the river and occasionally engaged Confederate artillery batteries on the river. [1]
Early in January 1865, most of the Union ironclads were withdrawn from the James River as Rear Admiral David D. Porter assembled most of his ships for the forthcoming attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Onondaga was the only ironclad left to guard Union forces along the James against the Confederate James River Squadron. [10]
When the Confederate squadron steamed down river to attack the weakened Union forces, Onondaga dropped downstream to a position where she could maneuver more easily. She and her supporting gunboats awaited them only to see the attack aborted when elements of the Confederate fleet—the casemate ironclads Virginia II and Richmond, the gunboat Drewry, and the torpedo boat Scorpion —all ran aground as the tide ebbed trying to pass Union obstructions at Trent's Reach, after the casemate ironclad Fredericksburg and the gunboat Hampton had passed through the obstruction at 01:30. The latter two ships continued downriver and anchored below the Dutch Gap Canal to await the rest of the squadron. [11]
The squadron commander, Flag Officer John K. Mitchell, recalled them several hours later and ordered them to anchor further upstream under the guns of Battery Dantzler. As the Confederate ships were refloated at 10:45, Onondaga approached the Union obstructions and opened fire at an estimated range of 880 yards (800 m). Her Dahlgren guns hit Virginia II twice with solid shot; the first shot penetrated her 4-inch-thick (100 mm) armor and badly damaged the 24-inch-thick (610 mm) wooden backing and its supporting beams. The second shot killed one crewman and killed two others as it penetrated the armor and its backing. Richmond was only hit by a glancing shot that damaged the armored shutter that protected the ship's stern gun port before the Confederate ships were able to withdraw upriver. [12]
The decision to move Onondaga downstream resulted in her commanding officer, Commander William Parker, being court-martialled for "neglect of duty in not offering battle to the Confederate ironclads" during this engagement. Secretary Welles set aside the guilty verdict on a technicality. [13]
Onondaga continued to support Union troops for the rest of the war and steamed north after its end on 9 April. The ship was decommissioned at New York City on 8 June and was laid up at League Island, Pennsylvania. By an Act of Congress approved on 7 March 1867, the monitor was sold to back to her builder who resold her to France [9] for 4,330,599 francs. [14]
Onondaga retained her name in French service and was towed from New York City to Halifax beginning on 2 September 1867. She was towed across the Atlantic to Brest by the transport Européen departing on 15 June 1868, escorted by the aviso Volta. The ship began an extensive refit [15] after her arrival on 2 July that include the replacement of her original armament with four 240-millimeter (9.4 in) Modèle 1864 or Modèle 1864-66 rifled breech-loading guns. [3] Other alterations included reworking her hull sides with teak backing the armor, a larger rudder and, probably, removal of the rings around the propellers. [16] The French measured her freeboard at 60 centimeters (2 ft) although it is uncertain if this was before or after these modifications. Onondaga began her sea trials in May 1869 and was subsequently placed in reserve. [14]
The ship was mobilized on 17 July 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, but saw no combat and returned to reserve afterwards. Her armament was augmented in 1878 by six Hotchkiss 5-barreled revolving cannon, two towed Harvey torpedoes and a torpedo launch. In April 1898 she became the guard ship of the Naval Reserve (Défense mobile) at Saint-Malo and her light guns were replaced by a dozen Hotchkiss guns, half-a-dozen each of 37 mm (1.5 in) and 47 mm (1.9 in) calibers. Onondaga was stricken on 2 December 1904 and was subsequently sold for 127,550 francs. The ship was scrapped in Brest in 1905. [17]
USS Galena was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and supported Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry's Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating. Widely regarded as a failure, Galena was reconstructed without most of her armor in 1863 and transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864. The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and the subsequent Siege of Fort Morgan in August. She was briefly transferred to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in September before she was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for repairs in November.
CSS Virginia II was a Confederate Navy steam-powered ironclad ram laid down in 1862 at the William Graves' shipyard in Richmond, Virginia. Acting Constructor William A. Graves, CSN, was the superintendent in charge of her construction. In order to conserve scarce iron plating, he ordered the ship's armored casemate shortened from the specifications given in John L. Porter's original building plans; in addition, the ship's iron-plating, while six inches thick on the casemate's forward face, was reduced to five inches on her port, starboard, and aft faces. Due to the shortening of her casemate, the number of her cannon were reduced to a single 11" smoothbore, a single 8" rifle, and two 6.4" rifles.
CSS Richmond was the name ship of her class of six casemate ironclads built for the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Completed during 1862 the ship was assigned to the James River Squadron where she mostly supported Confederate forces near Richmond, Virginia. She was burned in April 1865 to prevent her capture by Union forces.
USS Canonicus was a single-turret monitor built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War, the lead ship of her class. The ship spent most of her first year in service stationed up the James River, where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against a sortie by the Confederate ironclads of the James River Squadron. She engaged Confederate artillery batteries during the year and later participated in both attacks on Fort Fisher, defending the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina, from December 1864 to January 1865.
CSS Fredericksburg was a casemate ironclad that served as part of the James River Squadron of the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Laid down in 1862 and Launched the following year, she did not see action until 1864 due to delays in receiving her armor and guns. After passing through the obstructions at Drewry's Bluff in May 1864, she participated in several minor actions on the James River and fought in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm from September 29 to October 1. On January 23 and 24, 1865, she was part of the Confederate fleet at the Battle of Trent's Reach, and was one of only two Confederate ships to make it past the obstructions at Trent's Reach. After the Confederate attack failed, Fredericksburg withdrew with the rest of the James River Squadron. On April 3, as the Confederates were abandoning Richmond, Fredericksburg and the other vessels of the James River Squadron were burned. Her wreck was located in the 1980s, buried under sediment.
USS Chickasaw was an ironclad Milwaukee-class river monitor built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864, during which she was lightly damaged, and the bombardments of Forts Gaines and Morgan as Union troops besieged the fortifications defending the bay. In March–April 1865, Chickasaw again supported Union forces during the Mobile Campaign as they attacked Confederate fortifications defending the city of Mobile, Alabama.
USS Saugus was a single-turreted Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The vessel was assigned to the James River Flotilla of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon completion in April 1864. The ship spent most of her time stationed up the James River where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against a sortie by the Confederate ironclads of the James River Squadron. She engaged Confederate artillery batteries during the year and later participated in both attacks on Fort Fisher, defending the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina, in December 1864 – January 1865. Saugus returned to the James River after the capture of Fort Fisher and remained there until Richmond, Virginia, was occupied in early April.
USS Winnebago was a double-turret Milwaukee-class river monitor, named for the Winnebago tribe of Siouan Indians, built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, during which she was lightly damaged, and the bombardments of Forts Gaines and Morgan as Union troops besieged the fortifications defending the bay. In early 1865, Winnebago again supported Union forces during the Mobile Campaign as they attacked Confederate fortifications defending the city of Mobile, Alabama. She was placed in reserve after the end of the war and sold in 1874.
USS Roanoke was a wooden-hulled Merrimack-class screw frigate built for the United States Navy in the mid-1850s. She served as flagship of the Home Squadron in the late 1850s and captured several Confederate ships after the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The ship was converted into an ironclad monitor during 1862–63; the first ship with more than two gun turrets in history. Her conversion was not very successful as she rolled excessively and the weight of her armor and turrets strained her hull. Her deep draft meant that she could not operate off shallow Confederate ports and she was relegated to harbor defense at Hampton Roads, Virginia for the duration of the war. Roanoke was placed in reserve after the war and sold for scrap in 1883.
USS Neosho, the lead ship of her class, was an ironclad river monitor laid down for the Union Navy in the summer of 1862 during the American Civil War. After completion in mid-1863, the ship spent time patrolling the Mississippi River against Confederate raids and ambushes as part of Rear Admiral David Porter's Mississippi Squadron. She participated in the Red River Campaign in March–May 1864. Neosho resumed her patrols on the Mississippi after the end of the campaign. She supported the Union Army's operations on the Cumberland River and provided fire support during the Battle of Nashville in December 1864. Neosho was decommissioned after the war and remained in reserve until sold in 1873.
The first USS Milwaukee, a double-turreted Milwaukee-class 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 in early 1865. She struck a mine in March and sank without loss. Her wreck was raised in 1868 and broken up for scrap that was used in the construction of a bridge in St. Louis, Missouri.
USS Monadnock was one of four Miantonomoh-class monitors built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Commissioned in late 1864, she participated in the First in December and Second Battles of Fort Fisher in January 1865. The ship was later assigned to the James River Flotilla on the approaches to the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia and then sailed to Spanish Cuba to intercept the Confederate ironclad CSS Stonewall.
USS Manhattan was a single-turreted Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. After commissioning in 1864 the ship was assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay. At the end of the battle, Manhattan took the surrender of the Confederate casemate ironclad ram Tennessee. She bombarded Fort Morgan during the Siege of Fort Morgan and later blockaded the mouth of the Red River until the end of the war.
USS Mahopac (1864) was a Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The vessel was assigned to the James River Flotilla of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron upon completion in September 1864. The ship spent most of her time stationed up the James River where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against sorties by the Confederate ironclads of the James River Squadron. She engaged Confederate artillery batteries during the year and later participated in both the first and second battles of Fort Fisher, defending the approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina, in December 1864 – January 1865. Mahopac returned to the James River after the capture of Fort Fisher and remained there until Richmond, Virginia was occupied in early April.
The French ironclad Colbert was the lead ship of the Colbert-class ironclads that were built for the French Navy in the 1870s. The ship was the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron for most of her career. She took part in the French conquest of Tunisia, notably shelling and landing troops in Sfax on 15–16 July 1881. Colbert was paid off in 1895 and condemned in 1900. The ship was finally sold for scrap in 1909.
The French ironclad Armide was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid-1860s. Placed into reserve after completion, she was first mobilized for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. She spent the rest of her career in the Mediterranean and then in the Far East as flagship of the French squadrons there, until her decommissioning in 1880. Armide was use as a target for gunnery trials in 1886.
The Neosho-class monitors were a pair of ironclad river monitors laid down in mid-1862 for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. After completion in mid-1863, both ships spent time patrolling the Mississippi River against Confederate 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 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.
The Océan-class ironclads were a class of three wooden-hulled armored frigates built for the French Navy in the mid to late 1860s. Océan attempted to blockade Prussian ports in the Baltic Sea in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and Marengo participated in the French conquest of Tunisia in 1881. Suffren was often used as the flagship for the Cherbourg Division, the Channel Division, Mediterranean Squadron and the Northern Squadron during her career. The ships were discarded during the 1890s.
Triomphante (Triumphant) was the third and last ship of the La Galissonnière class of wooden-hulled, armored corvettes built for the French Navy during the 1870s. Her construction was delayed for years and the navy took advantage of the extended construction time to upgrade her armament in comparison to the lead ship, La Galissonnière. She and her half-sister La Galissonnière participated in a number of battles during the Sino-French War of 1884–85. The ship remained in Asia and never returned to France after the war. She was condemned in 1896 and sold in 1903.
The Milwaukee-class monitors were a class of four riverine ironclad monitors built during the American Civil War. Several supported Union forces along the Mississippi River in mid-1864 before participating in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August. Chickasaw and Winnebago bombarded Confederate coastal fortifications during the battle and during subsequent operations as well as engaging the ironclad Tennessee II. The other two ships arrived at Mobile Bay after the battle and all four supported the land attacks on Mobile in March–April 1865. Milwaukee struck a torpedo during this time and sank. The surviving three ships were sold in 1874; Chickasaw was converted into a ferry and survived until 1944 when she was scuttled. Her wreck was discovered in 2004.