Wikipedia

Canonicus-class monitor

The Canonicus-class was a class of nine monitors built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. An improvement on the preceding Passaics, modified in accordance with war experience, each vessel mounted two 15-inch (381 mm) Dahlgren guns. The five ships commissioned during the war participated variously in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign and the First and Second Battles of Fort Fisher. When attacking the ironclad ram CSS Tennessee in 1865, the monitor Tecumseh was sunk by a naval mine, then termed a "torpedo". 94 died. Eight of the suspected conspirators for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln were incarcerated aboard Saugus and the monitor Montauk before they were transferred to the Arsenal Penitentiary. The remaining four ships not commissioned during the war were built on the Ohio River, three at Cincinnati, and Ajax as far up as South Pittsburgh. Of these, Catawba and Oneota, renamed Atahualpa and Manco Cápac respectively, were sold to the Peruvian Navy and participated in the War of the Pacific, both being scuttled to prevent their capture by the Chilean Navy. The last remaining member of the class, the lead ship Canonicus, was an exhibit during the Jamestown Exposition, before being sold to the broken up in 1908.

Mahopac on the Appomattox River, 1864
Class overview
Operators
Preceded byPassaic class
Succeeded byMonadnock class
In commission1864–1898
Completed9
Lost3
Scrapped6
General characteristics
TypeMonitor
Displacement2,100 long tons (2,100 t)
Tons burthen1,034 tons (bm)
Length
  • 235 ft (72 m) (Canonicus, Ajax)
  • 225 ft (69 m) (Catawba, Oneota)
  • 224 ft (68 m) (Wyandotte)
  • 223 ft (68 m) (Mahopac, Manhattan, Saugus, Techumseh)
Beam
  • 43 ft 8 in (13.31 m) (Canonicus, Ajax')
  • 43 ft 3 in (13.18 m) (Catawba, Oneota)
  • 43 ft (13 m) (Wyandotte)
  • 43 ft 4 in (13.21 m) (Mahopac, Manhattan, Saugus, Techumseh)
Draft
  • 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
  • 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m) (Wyandotte)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement100 officers and enlisted men
Armament2 × 15-inch (381 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore guns
Armor

Design and development

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The Canonicus class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding Passaic class. Their hull lines were improved and designed for a higher speed of up to 13 knots (24 km/h), although this was not achieved by the vessels themselves. The class consisted of nine vessels. They had a tonnage of 1,034 tons burthen and displaced 2,100 long tons (2,100 t). The individual vessels varied in their dimensions. Canonicus and Ajax were largest, measuring 235 ft (72 m) long overall, with a beam of 43 ft 8 in (13.31 m) and a maximum draft of 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m). Catawba and Oneota were 225 ft (69 m) long overall, had a beam of 43 ft 3 in (13.18 m) and had a maximum draft of 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m). Wyandotte was 224 feet 6 inches (68.4 m) long overall, had a beam of 43 feet 5 inches (13.2 m) and had a maximum draft of 13 feet 3 inches (4.0 m). The shortest of vessels of the class, Mahopac, Manhattan, Saugus and Tecumseh, were 223 feet (68 m) long overall, had a beam of 43 feet 4 inches (13.2 m) and had a maximum draft of 13 feet 6 inches (4.1 m).[1] Each ship had crew consisting of 100 officers and enlisted men.[2]

The ships were powered by a two-cylinder horizontal Ericsson vibrating-lever steam engine[3] that drove one propeller using steam generated by four Stimers horizontal fire-tube boilers.[4] The engine was rated at 320 ihp (240 kW) and propelled the ships at a top speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). They carried 140–150 long tons (140–150 t) of coal.[2] Each vessel had main armament that consisted of two smoothbore, muzzle-loading, 15-inch (381 mm) Dahlgren guns mounted in a single gun turret.[3] Each gun weighed approximately 43,000 pounds (20,000 kg). They could fire a 350-pound (158.8 kg) shell up to a range of 2,100 yards (1,900 m) at an elevation of +7°.[5]

The exposed sides of the hull were protected by five layers of 1-inch (25 mm) wrought iron plates, backed by wood and two iron stringers 6+1⁄2 in (165 mm) deep and 6 in (152 mm) thick for 70 ft (21 m) from the bows, but 4 in (102 mm) elsewhere. The armor of the gun turret, of 21 ft (6 m) internal diameter, and the pilot house consisted of ten layers of one-inch plates. The ship's deck was protected by armor 1.5 inches (38 mm) thick. A 5-by-15-inch (130 by 380 mm) soft iron band was fitted around the base of the turret to prevent shells and fragments from jamming the turret as had happened during the First Battle of Charleston Harbor in April 1863.[4] The base of the funnel was protected to a height of 6 feet (1.8 m) by 8 inches (200 mm) of armor. A "rifle screen" of 1⁄2-inch (13 mm) armor 3 feet (0.9 m) high was installed on the top of the turret to protected the crew against Confederate snipers based on a suggestion by Commander Tunis A. M. Craven, captain of Tecumseh.[6]

Construction

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The contract for the lead ship, Canonicus, the first Navy ship to be named for the chief of the Narragansett, was awarded to Harrison Loring of Boston, Massachusetts. Originally named Scylla, the vessel was launched on 1 August 1863, and commissioned on 16 April 1864, with Commander E. G. Parrott, in command.[7] Meanwhile the Tecumseh, Manhattan and Mahopac had been ordered from yards in Jersey City, New Jersey, and laid down in the city by the primary subcontractor Joseph Colwell. On 15 June 1869, Manhattan was renamed Neptune, although she resumed her original name on 10 August.[8] Mahopac was renamed Castor on 15 June 1869 and resumed her original name on 10 August.[9] Saugus, the fourth to be launched and the first Navy ship to be named after the town of Saugus, Massachusetts, was built by Harlan & Hollingsworth at their Wilmington, Delaware, shipyard.[10]

The contract for Catawba and Oneota were awarded to Alexander Swift & Company and built at their Cincinnati, Ohio, shipyard. Wyandotte, the only Navy ship to be named after the Wyandotte Indian Tribe, was built by Miles Greenwood, also in Cincinnati. [10] Completion of the ships was delayed by the low depth of the Ohio River, which prevented their movement to Mound City, Illinois, to complete fitting out.[11] Similar problems were experienced with the Ohio river Ajax, originally named after Manayunk in Pennsylvania,[12] was ordered from Snowden & Mason and built at their new shipyard at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[13] After her launch was delayed by the very low level of the Ohio River, while fitting out, Ajax was ripped loose from her moorings and had to be towed back to her berth.[14] The ships' construction were delayed by multiple changes ordered while they were being built that reflected battle experience with earlier monitors. This included the rebuilding of the turrets and pilot houses to increase their armor thickness from 8 inches (203 mm) to 10 inches and to replace the bolts that secured their armor plates together with rivets to prevent them from being knocked loose by the shock of impact from shells striking the turret. Other changes included deepening their hull by 18 inches (457 mm) to increase the ships' buoyancy, moving the position of the turret to balance the ships' trim and replacing all of the ships' deck armor.[15]

Career

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Civil war service

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On 22 May 1864, Canonicus, Saugus and Tecumseh protected the transports of Major General Benjamin Butler's Army of the James, supplying the army as it operated on the south bank of the James River during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. As part of this deployment, Tecumseh sank four hulks and a schooner. On 21 June, Commander Craven, of Tecumseh, spotted a line of breastworks that the Confederates were building at Howlett's Farm, and his ship opened fire at the workers. The Confederates replied with a battery of four guns near the breastworks and Saugus and Canonicus joined in the bombardment. A half-hour later, Confederate ships near Dutch Gap ineffectively joined in. Saugus fired thirty-six 15-inch shells, Canonicus fired forty and Tecumseh fired forty-six. Saugus received one hit from a Confederate shell and Canonicus two, but no one was wounded or killed during the engagement.[16] Tecumseh then dueled with Howlett's Battery on 5 and 6 December, firing 46 shells without being hit in return.[17]

After commissioning, Manhattan steamed for the Gulf of Mexico and arrived at the Pensacola Navy Yard on 7 July, towed by the side-wheel gunboat Bienville. She required nearly two weeks to resupply and to repair damage from two small fires that started after her arrival.[18] On 4 August, Manhattan and Tecumseh arrived at Mobile Bay and, on the following morning, attacked the ironclad ram Tennessee.[19] Tecumseh started to steer directlt for the confederate ship about 600 yards (550 m) away from Tennessee, but, as the range shortened, the ship struck a "torpedo", as mines were called at the time.[20] The ship sank in less than 30 seconds. A boat sent by the gunboat Metacomet rescued ten men, including the pilot, and delivered them to Winnebago.[21] Seven other survivors reached one of Tecumseh's boats and four other men swam ashore and were captured. 94 died.[22] Manhattan fired a total of 11 shots, six at Tennessee and five at Fort Morgan. Four hits were claimed, including the shot that broke the Tennessee's steering chains and another that jammed her stern gun port shutter in the closed position. The monitor was hit nine times during the battle, but sustained no significant damage or casualties.[23]

Canonicus, Mahopac and Saugus engaged a Confederate artillery battery at Howlett's Farm on 5 and 6 December. Mahopac was hit five times and lightly damaged; she fired 41 shells in return, of which only six had any effect on the Confederate forces. Saugus was hit twice. One of the shots from a 8-inch (200 mm) Brooke rifle disabled her turret temporarily when it cracked an armor plate and broke a number of 2-inch (51 mm) bolts.[24] In the First Battle of Fort Fisher on 24–25 December, Canonicus anchored at ranges from 900–1,200 yd (820–1,100 m) and fired 144 rounds and was hit four times, but suffered no casualties and no significant damage. Saugus fired 64 shells and Mahopac fired 41 shells. On 13–15 January 1865, during the second battle, Canonicus fired 279 shells at the fort, most on the first day, again claiming to have dismounted two guns. She was hit at least 38 times in return but was only lightly damaged, and three crewmen were wounded. Mahopac fired 204 shells at the fort and Saugus 212 shells, despite each bursting one gun. Saugus was hit 11 times, cracking armor plates on her pilothouse and turret in addition to breaking bolts. Saugus remained on the James and contributed boats for clearing the river of "torpedoes" after the Confederate ships were scuttled on the night of 2/3 April and Richmond occupied. On 5 April, Mahopac and Saugus sailed to the Washington Navy Yard.[25] After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on 15 April, eight of the suspected conspirators were incarcerated aboard Saugus and the monitor Montauk. On 30 April, they were transferred off the ships to the Arsenal Penitentiary.[26] Mahopac was decommissioned in June.[9]

Post-war service

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Canonicus, towed by the steamer Fahkee, together with Monadnock and other ships steamed to Havana, Cuba, in late May 1866, the first American ironclads to arrive at a foreign port.[27] The ship arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on 25 June 1869, was decommissioned five days later, recommissioned on 22 January 1872 and decommissioned in 1877 at Pensacola, Florida. After a period as an exhibit during the Jamestown Exposition, the vessel was sold to be broken up on 19 February 1908.[7]

Mahopac was recommissioned on 15 January 1866 and served on the East Coast. The ship was placed in reserve on 11 March 1872 at Hampton Roads, recommissioned on 21 November 1873 and then placed in ordinary at Richmond, Virginia, from 1889 to 1895. The ship was transferred to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1895, struck from the Navy List on 14 January 1902 and sold on 25 March.[9]

After being was transferred to Key West, Florida In 1870, Manhattan was refitted in 1872–1873 in Philadelphia, returning to Key West for fleet maneuvers before serving off the coast of North and South Carolina from 25 April 1876. After spending time in Virginia at Norfolk, Brandon, City Point and Richmond, Manhattan was transferred to Philadelphia and laid up at League Island in 1888 before being struck from the Navy List on 14 December 1901 and sold on 24 March 1902 for breaking up.[8]

Ajax, Oneota and Catawba had been laid up in ordinary opposite Cairo, Illinois during the civil war.[28][13] Vulnerable to damage from debris flowing down the river, the Navy finally moved them to New Orleans in May 1866.[28] Ajax was commissioned in 1 January, serving intermittently before being placed in ordinary at Richmond, on 30 June 1891. Briefly recommissioned for local defense duties in response to the Spanish–American War, Wyandotte and Ajax were decommissioned in September 1898 and sold to be broken up on 17 January and 10 October 1899 respectively.[29]

Saugus patrolled along the Florida coast until the last day of 1870. After being towed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for repairs, Saugus was recommissioned there on 9 November 1872 and was based at Key West until transferred to Port Royal, South Carolina, in 1876. Saugus returned to Washington and was decommissioned there on 8 October 1877 and sold to be broken up on 25 May 1891.[26]

Peruvian service

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In August 1867, the Navy turned over Catawba and Oneota to Swift & Co., contingent on a guarantee that they would be returned in good shape if they could not be sold, and the company began refitting them for Peruvian service.[28] In October 1867, an agent for Swift & Co. negotiated a deal with Peru to purchase the ships for a million dollars apiece. The ships were appraised at $375,000 each, and sold for that amount, possibly after a corrupt bidding process, on 11 April 1868.[30] Catawba was renamed Atahualpa, after the Emperor Atahualpa, the last ruler of the Inca Empire and Oneota became Manco Cápac in honor of Manco Cápac, the legendary first king of the Kingdom of Cuzco.[31][32] To prepare the ships for their lengthy voyage to Peru, around Cape Horn, Swift & Co. added a breakwater on the bow, stepped two masts with a fore-and-aft rig to supplement the engines, and provided closures to make vents and deck openings water tight.[33]

While this was going on, the United States was negotiating with Great Britain over the Alabama Claims, compensation for losses inflicted by British ships knowingly sold to the Confederacy during the Civil War. Peru had been involved in an undeclared war with Spain, the Chincha Islands War between 1864 and 1866, and the US was not willing to prejudice its claims against the United Kingdom by performing a similar action for a belligerent power.[28] Negotiations over the issue delayed the departure of the two monitors until January 1869, by which time Peru had bought two steamers, Reyes and Marañon to tow the monitors. Machinery breakdowns meant that, on reaching Pensacola, Florida, they were forced to wait 30 days for repairs to be completed. En route from Key West to the Bahamas, the ships were separated in heavy weather. Reyes collided with the sharp bow of Manco Cápac and sank in 15 minutes. Short on food, water and fuel, the monitor, was able to send a local schooner to Nassau to inform the authorities of their plight. Atahualpa reached Great Inagua, in the Bahamas, and was able to resupply, although her officers had to pay for themselves. The ships finally reunited at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and had to wait for the Pachitea to arrive from Peru to tow Manco Cápac. While entering Rio de Janeiro on the night of 15 September, Manco Cápac ran aground. She was refloated the following day, but the damage required three months to repair. The monitors reached the Strait of Magellan on 29 January 1870 and Callao on 11 May.[34]

Atahualpa was towed from Callao to Iquique, then part of Peru, from 11–22 May 1877, to defend that port from the rebel ironclad Huáscar during the Peruvian Civil War. When the War of the Pacific with Chile began in 1879, Atahualpa was stationed in Callao and Manco Cápacwas sent to defend Arica. During the blockade of Arica, Huáscar, now in the hands of the Chilean Navy after the 1879 Battle of Angamos, attacked Arica on 27 February 1880, fighting an inconclusive duel with Manco Cápac. After striking the schooner Covadonga on blockade duty on 6 June, Manco Cápac was scuttled to prevent her capture when the city fell the following day.[35] On 11 December 1880, the Chilean fleet started firing at Callao, at ranges of up to 4 miles (6.4 km). Atahualpa, escorted by a tug, sortied to fight a long-range battle with the Chilean fleet, but failed to inflict any damage.[36] On 16 January 1881, her crew scuttled the ship to prevent her capture by Chilean forces as they advanced into the city. She was subsequently raised and sold to be broken up.[35]

Ships in class

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Ship Builder Namesake Name changes Laid down Launched Commissioned or completed(*) Reference
Canonicus Harrison Loring, Boston, Massachusetts Canonicus Scylla, 15 June 1869; Canonicus, 10 August 1869 1862 1 August 1863 16 April 1864 [7]
Tecumseh Charles Secor & Co., Jersey City, New Jersey Tecumseh Not Applicable 1862 12 September 1863 19 April 1864 [37]
Manhattan Perine, Secor & Co., Jersey City, New Jersey Manhattan Neptune, 15 June 1869; Manhattan, 10 August 1869 1862 14 October 1863 6 June 1864 [8]
Saugus Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware Saugus, Massachusetts Centaur, 15 June 1869; Saugus, 10 August 1869 1862 8 February 1864 27 August 1864 [26]
Catawba Alexander Swift & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio Catawba River bought by the Peruvian Navy in 1867; Atahualpa 1862 13 April 1864 10 June 1865* [31]
Mahopac Secor & Co., Jersey City, New Jersey Lake Mahopac Castor, 15 June 1869; Mahopac, 10 August 1869 1862 17 May 1864 22 September 1864 [9]
Oneota Alexander Swift & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio Oneota Tribe of the Sioux Indians bought by the Peruvian Navy in 1867; Manco Cápac 1862 21 May 1864 10 June 1865* [32]
Ajax Snowden & Mason, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Manayunk, Philadelphia Manayunk, 1862; Ajax, 15 June 1869 1862 18 December 1864 27 September 1865* [29]
Wyandotte Miles Greenwood, Cincinnati, Ohio Wyandotte Tribe Tippecanoe, 1869; Wyandotte, 10 August 1869 22 September 1862 22 December 1864 15 February 1866* [38]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Silverstone 2006, pp. 6–7.
  2. ^ a b Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 122.
  3. ^ a b Silverstone 2006, p. 7.
  4. ^ a b Canney 1993, p. 85.
  5. ^ Olmstead, Stark & Tucker 1997, p. 94.
  6. ^ West 1996, pp. 15–16.
  7. ^ a b c DANFS-Canonicus 2015.
  8. ^ a b c DANFS-Manhattan 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d DANFS-Mahopac 2015.
  10. ^ a b Canney 1993, p. 138.
  11. ^ Roberts 2002, p. 166.
  12. ^ Silverstone 1984, p. 460.
  13. ^ a b Silverstone 2006, p. 6.
  14. ^ Roberts 2002, pp. 140, 166–68.
  15. ^ Roberts 2002, pp. 75–76, 80, 118–19.
  16. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Vol. 10 1900, pp. 36, 182–83.
  17. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Vol. 11 1900, pp. 147–148.
  18. ^ Friend 2004, pp. 59, 67–68.
  19. ^ Friend 2004, pp. 78–79, 91, 95, 158.
  20. ^ Friend 2004, pp. 166, 178–179, 181.
  21. ^ Kinney n.d., p. 389.
  22. ^ Friend 2004, p. 182.
  23. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Vol. 21 1914, pp. 494–495.
  24. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Vol. 11 1900, pp. 45, 148–49.
  25. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Vol. 12 1901, pp. 98–99, 102.
  26. ^ a b c DANFS-Saugus 2015.
  27. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Vol. 3 1901, pp. 525, 535–536.
  28. ^ a b c d Roberts 2002, p. 182.
  29. ^ a b DANFS-Ajax 2015.
  30. ^ Roberts 2002, p. 181.
  31. ^ a b DANFS-Catawba 2020.
  32. ^ a b DANFS-Oneota 2015.
  33. ^ Alden 1974, p. 81.
  34. ^ Alden 1974, pp. 81–82.
  35. ^ a b Alden 1974, p. 82.
  36. ^ Greene & MassignanI 1998, pp. 238, 318.
  37. ^ DANFS-Tecumseh 2015.
  38. ^ DANFS-Wyandotte 2015.

Bibliography

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