U.S.S. New Ironsides (1862)
The New Ironsides, seen here in her initial incarnation with a full square rig, was the third of the three ironclads ordered by Navy Secretary Gideon Welles at the outset of the Civil War. New Ironsides was a 4100-ton ironclad frigate with 4-5" armor. She was built for the Navy by Merrick & Sons at Philadelphia. Launched in May 1862 and commissioned in August, the new "armoured Frigate" carried two 150-pounder Parrot rifles, fourteen 11" Dahlgrens, and two 50-pounders, all mounted in a conventional broadside battery. Patented armored shutters which closed with a scissors-like action protected the gun crews during reloading; these are clearly seen in the old lithograph above and the model photo below. Originally barque rigged, she presented the appearance of a seaworthy, oceangoing fighting ship in the European manner, as seen in this 1862 lithograph by W.H. Rease of Philadelphia, from the Franklin D. Roosevelt collection.
After she arrived on station and began bombarding the forts of Charleston Harbor and elsewhere on the coast of the Confederacy, she was soon stripped of her vulnerable sail rig and appeared as seen in this modern resin model (left). It was a tribute to the great logistics available to the Union that she was able to abandon sail -- only great supply could have ensured a steady stream of coal for the ravenous bunkers of the blockading fleet. With the tall masts removed, the ship's appearance radically altered to become a sort of high-freeboard, seagoing version of the Virginia and other casemate ironclads of the period, albeit with far more reliable engines than the Confederates could boast on any of their home-made efforts. The New Ironsides proved well able to withstand the rain of shot and shell leveled at her by Confederate gunners, unlike her lighter-built sisters Keokuk and Galena; though she had been far more costly to build, she survived her battles to fight again. This was particularly seen after she was attacked by Confederate torpedo craft in August 1863 and was torpedoed by CSS David at Charleston on the night of October 5, 1863. Though damaged, New Ironsides was patched up in a few days and remained on station for more than 6 months, ready for action. During this time she participated in further bombardments against Ft. Wagner. In May 1864, she retired to Philadelphia for repairs and refit.
Specifications for the New Ironsides: 230' long OA x 57"6" beam x 23' draft. Displacement: 4,100 tons. Armament: (14) 11" Dahlgren smoothbores; (2) 150-pdr Parrot MLR; (2) 50-pdr smoothbores. Propulsion: 2-cyl. horizontal direct acting steam engine, 700 IHP; single screw. Top speed: 12 kts. Crew: 369.
Following her overhaul, the New Ironsides came back to bombard Fort Fisher during the campaign to capture Wilmington, N.C., and crush its blockade-runner operations. Naval bombardment supported the Union's land campaign which carried the fort on January 15, 1865. Subsequently the ship played defense at Hampton Roads through war's end. Then New Ironsides was decommissioned and laid up at League Island near Philadelphia. There she was accidentally destroyed by fire in December 1866.
New Ironsides had been a ground-breaking ship for the U.S. Navy in every way, proving that armor plating could be combined with good seakeeping qualities, formidable armament, and powerful engines to create a highly survivable unit. There was to be no attempt to create such an oceangoing ironclad again in the U.S. for nearly 30 years.
An interesting juxtaposition of the types of ships that won the Civil War for the North is seen in this oil painting by Xanithus Smith. At right, a wooden prewar steam frigate, the USS Wabash of 3,500 tons, armed with 32-pdr smoothbores on broadside and two pivot-mounted Parrott rifles on the spar deck; at center, the monitor Patapsco, one of the first built in the "monitor fever" after the Hampton Roads engagement; and at left, the New Ironsides, evidently just arrived on the blockade with her sail rig intact. It was the combination of the New Ironsides' seaworthiness and robust protection, with the mechnically aimed heavy guns of the monitor, which would render the wooden sailing frigate obsolete once and for all. This did not prevent the U.S. Navy from building little-modified evolutions of the Wabash for 20 years after the Civil War ended, meanwhile selling off or scrapping most of its advanced armored ships.
