USS Miantonomoh
Civil War Union Naval Ship

USS Miantonomoh (1865-1874)

USS Miantonomoh , a 3401-ton twin-turret monitor, was built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. Commissioned in September 1865, she served briefly with the North Atlantic Squadron along the U.S. east coast, then was inactive at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., until April 1866. After a short stay at New York, in early May Miantonomoh departed on a historic trans-Atlantic voyage, accompanied by USS Augusta and USS Ashuelot . Carrying Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox for most of the trip, she arrived in Ireland in mid-June to begin nearly a year of visits to ports from the Baltic to the Mediterranean.

Miantonomoh was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in July 1867, soon after returning to the U.S. from Europe. She recommissioned in November 1869. In January 1870, she steamed north to meet the British ironclad Monarch and USS Plymouth , which were bringing the body of the great philanthropist George Peabody back to Massachusetts for burial. The monitor then operated along the U.S. Atlantic coast until July 1870, when she was laid up at the boston Navy Yard. During that period of active service, she was involved in two collisions, sinking the schooner Sarah at New York in December 1869 and the Navy tug Maria off Martha's Vinyard, Massachusetts, in January 1870. In 1874-75, as part of a program to "rebuild" Civil War era monitors into modern ones, her wooden hull was broken up and construction of a new iron-hulled ship, also named Miantonomoh , was begun at Chester, Pennsylvania, essentially retaining only the name of the original.

Watercolor by Oscar Parkes

Moored off the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., in 1865-66. USS Montauk is tied up alongside, to the left.
The Navy Yard's western shiphouse is visible in the right background.


War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor
The experience of the men aboard the Monitor and their reactions to the thrills and dangers that accompanied the new machine. The invention surrounded men with iron and threatened their heroism, their self-image as warriors, even their lives









Naval Strategies of the Civil War: Confederate Innovations and Federal Opportunism
Compare and contrast the strategies of the Southern Secretary of the Navy, Mallory, against his rival in the North, Welles. Mallory used technological innovation and the skill of individuals to bolster the South's seapower against the Union Navy's superior numbers


Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy
A tantalizing glimpse into the hardships endured by the naval leadership to build and recruit a fighting force. The seaman endured periods of boredom, punctuated by happy social times and terrifying bouts of battle horror





Confederate Phoenix: The CSS Virginia
The CSS Virginia of the Confederate States Navy destroyed two of the most formidable warships in the U.S. Navy. Suddenly, with this event, every wooden warship in every navy in the world became totally obsolete






Confederate Ironclad 1861-65
Every aspect of Confederate ironclads is covered: design, construction, armor, armament, life on board, strategy, tactics, and actual combat actions.







Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861-65
Interesting information and many excellent illustrations. It addresses the CSA David class torpedo boats and the Hunley (and its predecessors), as well as Union examples such as the Alligator and the Spuyten Duyvil

Washington Navy Yard, D.C.
Ships moored in the Anacostia River off the Yard's waterfront, after the end of the Civil War, about 1865.
The large twin-turret monitor in the center is Miantonomoh , with the smaller monitor Montauk tied up alongside her, to the left. In the left distance are the "light draft" monitor Chimo and the twin-turret monitor Tonawanda . The former Confederate ironclad Stonewall is beyond them.
In the right distance is the Yard's western shiphouse. Ship at right is probably USS Resaca

Peabody Funeral Fleet, January 1870
Probably photographed at Portland, Maine.
The most distant ship, in right center, is HMS Monarch , which carried the body of the late philanthropist George M. Peabody home to the United States for burial.
Her escort, USS Plymouth , is next closest to the camera.
The twin-turret monitor is probably USS Miantonomoh , which was detailed to meet the funeral ships when they arrived in U.S. waters.

Ship's junior officers on her afterdeck, circa 1869-1870.
Among those present are: Lieutenant Thomas Perry (4th from left); and Surgeon Newton L. Bates (extreme right).
Note the XV" shot in rack by the hatch in the foreground

Enlisted crewmen on board, circa 1869-1870.
Miantonomoh cap ribbons are visible some of these men, with ship name readable on the original print



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American Civil War Naval Book Titles

Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads 1862
The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships.
Release date Nov. 2008

Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter
Personal view of the Civil War Navy. The monitor saw action in several significant naval assaults by the Union's Squadron. It took part in the failed Federal attack on Sumter in April 1863. The "Nahant" also participated in the capture of the Confederate Ram "Atlanta," and in the assault on Fort Wagner

Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865
Coastal Florida had a refugee crisis as the war progressed. Escaped slaves ("contrabands") sought out the blockaders. Some joined the U.S. Navy. White men and their families sought to avoid conscription or vengeful neighbors/regulators and eventually sought refuge with the blockaders

The Hunt for the Albemarle:
Anatomy of a Gunboat War

The Confederate ironclad Albemarle was the key to the river wars in North Carolina.

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles

Halls of Honor
The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War

Raise The Alabama
She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France

The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one

Civil War Journal - The Conflict Begins
These four programs from the History Channel series Civil War Journal cover critical aspects of the early days of the war.

 

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress
US Naval Archives


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