David S Poepoe
Banned
This is covered in generalities in other threads but having finished reading William Roberts’ USS New Ironsides in the Civil War I draw these two paragraphs out for your attention:
‘The demonstrated offensive and seagoing superiority of the New Ironsides type offers tantalizing “what-ifs.” There were other ports, such as Wilmington and Mobile, where the Union might profitably have employed the New Ironsides’s good seakeeping qualities, invulnerability, and firepower. Although she drew more water than the monitors, her draft was up to 2 feet shallower than that of unarmored ships that mounted batteries less capable and less protected than her own – for example, while the New Ironsides drew 15 feet, Farragut’s famous Hartford drew 17 feet, 2 inches, and the wooden frigate Brooklyn drew 16 feet, 3 inches. The two additional ironclades that Cramp proposed to build to the New Ironsides design might have permitted, for example, earlier neutrailization of Fort Fisher, potentially shortening the war by choking off supplies to the Army of Northern Virginia.
Charles C. Fulton of the Baltimore American opined, “Had we now two other such vessels capable of the same service as the Ironsides, the problem of taking Charleston would be of comparatively easy solution…we can only regret that we have not other [ironclads] of equal powers of defence and offence.” George Belknap concurred writing, “The same energy, expended early in the war in building a fleet like the ‘Ironsides’ class, that was put forth in constructing monitors, would have led to the capture of Charleston, Mobile and Wilmington early in ’63.’
WI there Battle of Hampton Roads had been between USS New Ironsides and CSS Virginia? New Ironsides was delayed by about five months, but we’ll speculate that orders and deliveries worked out (ie. the size of the battery was changed a few times). The New Ironsides will more than likely overpower and defeat the Virginia.
The Monitor will still be constructed, since the Navy was experimenting with designs, but the US Navy builds an even mix of coastal monitors and large seagoing ironclads. Even if USS New Ironsides is destroyed by fire after the ACW the longer presence of her and her sister ships will have a lasting impact upon the US Navy.
‘The demonstrated offensive and seagoing superiority of the New Ironsides type offers tantalizing “what-ifs.” There were other ports, such as Wilmington and Mobile, where the Union might profitably have employed the New Ironsides’s good seakeeping qualities, invulnerability, and firepower. Although she drew more water than the monitors, her draft was up to 2 feet shallower than that of unarmored ships that mounted batteries less capable and less protected than her own – for example, while the New Ironsides drew 15 feet, Farragut’s famous Hartford drew 17 feet, 2 inches, and the wooden frigate Brooklyn drew 16 feet, 3 inches. The two additional ironclades that Cramp proposed to build to the New Ironsides design might have permitted, for example, earlier neutrailization of Fort Fisher, potentially shortening the war by choking off supplies to the Army of Northern Virginia.
Charles C. Fulton of the Baltimore American opined, “Had we now two other such vessels capable of the same service as the Ironsides, the problem of taking Charleston would be of comparatively easy solution…we can only regret that we have not other [ironclads] of equal powers of defence and offence.” George Belknap concurred writing, “The same energy, expended early in the war in building a fleet like the ‘Ironsides’ class, that was put forth in constructing monitors, would have led to the capture of Charleston, Mobile and Wilmington early in ’63.’
WI there Battle of Hampton Roads had been between USS New Ironsides and CSS Virginia? New Ironsides was delayed by about five months, but we’ll speculate that orders and deliveries worked out (ie. the size of the battery was changed a few times). The New Ironsides will more than likely overpower and defeat the Virginia.
The Monitor will still be constructed, since the Navy was experimenting with designs, but the US Navy builds an even mix of coastal monitors and large seagoing ironclads. Even if USS New Ironsides is destroyed by fire after the ACW the longer presence of her and her sister ships will have a lasting impact upon the US Navy.