Not All Ironclads are Created Equal: USS New Ironsides

By Joseph Miechle
Hampton Roads Naval Museum Educator


Drawing of USS New Ironsides shortly after commissioning in Philadelphia, PA. The ocean-going ironclad was fully rigged for sails. (Harpers' Weekly)

When one hears mention of a Civil War ironclad, images of the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia- style ships may immediately come to mind. While these two styles were certainly the predominant designs during the war, engineers tried a few other innovative variations as well. One of the lesser known, yet most effective ironclads developed during the war was USS New Ironsides. The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is proud to have a model of this ship, as well as the original (functioning!) engine room clock in our Civil War gallery.

 John Ericsson’s Monitor design was not the only plan submitted when contracts were awarded to northern shipyards for production of ironclad ships that could take on the Confederate casemate ironclad Virginia, then nearing completion in Norfolk. Production on USS Monitor began after Congress had already approved work to begin on USS Galena and USS New Ironsides. Ericsson’s “tin can on a shingle” was completed quickly and placed into service before either Galena or New Ironsides was complete. Because of this, the Ericsson design won fantastic public support and political backing in the aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads.

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum's model of USS New Ironsides as she appeared late in the Civil War, bow view (left) and stern view (right). (Photographs by M.C. Farrington)

USS New Ironsides' powerful broadside of 8 guns could place many more shells onto a fortification than could the Ericsson style ironclads. (Photograph by M.C. Farrington)


In stark contrast to the turret-based design of USS Monitor and her subsequent sister ships, New Ironsides maintained a more traditional broadside armament. The broadside configuration of fourteen 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbore guns and two 150-pound Parrot rifled guns required upwards of 200 men to operate them. The guns also required construction of special naval carriages so they could operate in the confines of a fully armored gun deck. The opening and closing of each armored shutter protecting the gun crews required ten men to operate. When New Ironsides was operating at peak efficiency, she could deliver withering fire upon the enemy.

The original crew of USS New Ironsides was patched together with volunteers and recent recruits to the Navy. Many of the crew had no experience aboard ship prior to in Philadelphia in 1862. Fewer than one in ten crewmen had joined the Navy prior to May 1862 and over 45 percent of them were rated as landsmen or boys. The crew was drilled vigorously at Hampton Roads prior to her first combat at Charleston, South Carolina on April 7, 1863, in which New Ironsides and several Monitor-style ironclads bombarded Fort Sumter, but failed to achieve a tactical victory.

In what may be the only known combat photograph of its kind from the American Civil War, spectators along the beach can be seen observing Union ironclad ships bombarding either Ft. Sumter or Ft. Moultrie, South Carolina. USS New Ironsides can be plainly seen on the right side of the photograph on the horizon. Smoke still lingers in the air from her deadly broadside. (Chubachus Library of Photographic History)

Action by New Ironsides against Fort Wagner, S.C. in 1863 demonstrated the ship’s true ability. Confederate General Roswell Ripley wrote, “Our great enemy is now the [New] Ironsides.” The ship fired its guns in rotation, one after another. This allowed her to keep a steady stream of fire upon an enemy fortification. New Ironsides expended 464 rounds from her guns in just one day of action at Ft. Wagner.  Colonel Charles Olmstead of the First Georgia Volunteers wrote:

Her broadsides were not fired in volley, but gun after gun, in rapid succession, the effect upon those who were at the wrong end of the guns being exceedingly demoralizing. Whenever she commenced there was a painful uncertainty as to what might happen before she got through.”

New Ironsides could put over ten times as much fire onto a target in an hour than a Monitor-class ship could. Ericsson conceded that the slow firing monitors could not contend with fortifications to the degree that New Ironsides could.

(Photograph by M.C. Farrington)

New Ironsides' armor also seems to have held up better than that of the other ironclad ship designs. USS Galena was shot through by Confederate guns at Drewry’s Bluff on the James River and Confederate gunners soon realized that damage to the seam, between the turret and deck, on Monitor style ships would quickly disable their ability to rotate. New Ironsides was struck over 150 times by heavy Confederate guns throughout the war and it never impaired the ship’s ability to fight.

New weapon evolution in the Civil War is a substantial topic in itself and no new design went unnoticed by the enemy. The Confederates in Charleston, South Carolina had been working on another weapon to destroy the blockading ships, the David boat. On October 5, 1863, under the orders of Captain J. R. Tucker C.S.N, a newly designed David-class torpedo boat succeeded in detonating a charge under USS New Ironsides and escaping into the night. The New Ironsides suffered little damage in the attack and one casualty, caused by gunfire from CSS David. The ship remained on station outside Charleston for the next several months before returning to Pennsylvania for routine repairs and maintenance.

The diversity of ironclad designs is shown in this engraving of USS New Ironsides (1862-1866) (left) and the double-turreted USS Monadnock (1864-1874) (right foreground) published in Harper's Weekly on February 3, 1866, as part of a larger print entitled "The Iron-clad Navy of the United States.” (Naval History and Heritage Command, NH-61431)

The armor belt of the ship was constructed of solid iron plates, up to 4.5 inches thick at the waterline backed by oak, pine, and iron braces. The armor itself was applied in “tongue and groove” style of construction which in theory would add strength and support to adjacent pieces of plating should they be struck by a projectile. British gun tests of this design would prove to the contrary in late 1862, too late to change the design of New Ironsides.

Watercolor painting done by Ensign John W. Grattan, who observed the second battle of Ft. Fisher aboard Rear Adm. David D. Porter’s flagship USS Malvern.  A "Naval Contingent" made up of Sailors and Marines is shown attacking the fort's Northeast Bastion.  Grattan's book Under the Blue Pennant or Notes of a Naval Officer was published in 2000. (Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Grattan Collection, Naval History and Heritage Command)

After repairs and the addition of anti-torpedo fenders at the Philadelphia Naval Yard in June 1864, New Ironsides was recomissioned with Commodore William Radford of the former USS Cumberland, in command.  New Ironsides returned to participate in the Battles for Fort Fisher, NC in December 1864 and January 1865. Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter wrote of the ship’s action in January:

The vessel did more execution than any vessel in the fleet, and even when our troops were on the parapet I had so much confidence in the accuracy of [Radford’s] fire that he was directed to fire on the traverses in advance of our troops and clear them out. This he did most effectually, and but for this the victory might not have been ours.

Eight members of the crew of USS New Ironsides received the Medal of Honor for their performance during the battle.

USS New Ironsides takes aboard Sailors. Notice the Marine guard at the end of the ladder to prevent against the introduction of contraband and intoxicating liquors. Notice also the sailing masts have been replaced with signal masts. This photo was likely taken in southern waters.

Despite all of the political support for the Monitor design and actual deficiencies and shortcomings in design, USS New Ironsides truly proved to be one of the most effective ironclad ships of the Civil War. The design demonstrated that superior firepower on large ships would continue to play an important role in naval strategies well into the 20th century. Many of the battleships of the Great White Fleet of 1907 carried a broadside of secondary guns in addition to their primary guns in turrets. Unfortunately, New Ironsides was damaged by a fire after the war and broken up for scrap by 1869. For more information about New Ironsides, see the book USS New Ironsides in the Civil War by William H. Roberts.

The Many Inventions of John Ericsson

By Jerome Kirkland 
Hampton Roads Naval Museum Educator

John Ericsson may best be remembered as the designer of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor, which set off a revolution in ship design with its revolving turret. The fame he gained with his “floating battery” resulted in the creation of songs such as the “Ericsson Gallop,” the “Monitor Polka,” and “Give Us a Navy of Iron.” Ericsson and his Monitor certainly deserved being immortalized in songs of the day, but many people do not remember the other contributions Ericsson made throughout his life.

John Ericsson and his invention, USS Monitor

After six years as a surveyor in the Swedish Army, John Ericsson left his native Sweden and moved to England to pursue his interest in mechanics. While there, he teamed up with John Braithwaite to develop a steam locomotive to compete in trials for a contract. Their entry, Novelty, quickly became the crowd favorite, sustaining the high speed of 28 miles per hour, but boiler problems developing late in the competition saw them take second place. The winner of the competition, the Rocket, is now considered the first “modern” steam locomotive.

Braithwaite and Ericsson went on to improve steam engine designs that were used in locomotives and fire engines. Their steam-powered fire engine gained notoriety while fighting the “Argyll Rooms fire” in London, on a cold February night, by outlasting all other fire engines on the scene by five hours.

Ericsson and Braithwaite's steam-powered fire engine and a period add for Ericsson’s Caloric engine.

While in England, Ericsson fine-tuned an invention he first made in Sweden, the “Caloric Engine.” This engine worked much like a steam engine, but instead of heating water to produce steam under pressure (a very dangerous operation in those days), it used heated air to work the piston. This arrangement was less effective but far safer, making it popular for less demanding work, such as pumping water. This invention became successful enough to supply Ericsson a steady income throughout his life.

One of Ericsson’s other major inventions was a screw propeller, meant to replace the side wheel paddle for steam boats and ships. The screw propeller was more efficient, less prone to damage, and allowed the steam engine powering the craft to sit lower in the hull. For river boats, this made the boat more stable and allowed more upper deck space for cargo and passengers. For military boats and ships, a steam engine below the water line allowed the ship to be protected from enemy shells, and the propeller could not be hit like a side paddle wheel could. Despite all the advantages of his design, Ericsson was unable to convince the conservative British Admiralty to use his designs on military vessels. As Ericsson was losing hope for selling this design, he met Captain Robert Stockton from the United States. Stockton convinced Ericsson to build him a screw propeller steamship and sail it to America, where his designs would receive more attention. Thus, Ericsson built the Robert F. Stockton, a propeller-driven steamship, and sailed it to America. 

By the time Ericsson arrived in the United States, he already had fourteen patents to his name. Shortly after his arrival, Ericsson began work on what should have been one of his greatest accomplishments, the USS Princeton. Princeton was a twin propeller steam-powered sloop. Ericsson designed and supervised the construction of most of the ship, its engine, and one of its two 12-inch cannons. Stockton, with his focus on political gain and prestige, claimed most of the credit. Upon launching, Princeton took on the British paddle steamer SS Great Western, considered the fastest steamer on the seas, and easily beat it. Princeton returned to port in Philadelphia and completed outfitting, eventually making it to New York to receive her two 12-inch guns.

After receiving her guns, Princeton took on hundreds of dignitaries for a demonstration cruise. The list included President John Tyler and most of his Cabinet. During a demonstration of the 12-inch guns, the "Peacemaker," the gun designed by Stockton, exploded. Luckily, the president was belowdecks at the time and was not harmed; however, eight men were killed, including the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Navy. Despite having claimed most of the credit for Princeton, as well as designing and supervising the construction of the gun that had blown up, Stockton tried to blame Ericsson. Using his political connections, Stockton was able to shift most of the responsibility to Ericsson and even blocked the Navy from paying Ericsson for the ship, which went on to outperform the rest of the U.S. Gulf Fleet during the Mexican-American War.

This bad experience with Stockton and the Navy almost stopped Ericsson from working with the Navy again. Luckily, a group of Ericsson’s friends convinced him to submit his design for a revolving turret “floating battery” to the Navy. This design, which became the USS Monitor, was accepted and completed just in time to meet the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) in the Battle of Hampton Roads.

After the Civil War, Ericsson could have retired financially secure and with his fame assured, but he still had more to offer. In the 1880s, he developed a warship that was fast, armored, low in the water, and fired an “underwater rifle.” Calling his ship the Destroyer, he claimed it could take on any ship of the day. Destroyer was never accepted by the Navy, largely because the “underwater rifle” had to be aimed by pointing the ship in the direction you wanted to fire and the shell was not self-propelled, so it had a limited range.

(top left) The low-riding Destroyer with a round coming out of the underwater rifle. (top right) A view inside the hull of the watertight cannon with a shell ready to load. (bottom) A cut-away view of the ship's hull and underwater cannon.

With the Navy turning down Destroyer, Ericsson later developed a self-propelled and guidable torpedo. Although able to change direction and depth, it was bulky and unable to compete against the much faster Whitehead torpedo. Ericsson also helped John Holland in his early submarine work by providing technical support.

These are but a few samples of Ericsson’s many contributions to engineering and naval science.

1853 View of Gosport With the New and Old Navy on Display



(click to enlarge)

This is an 1853 engraving in the museum's collection of the Gosport Shipyard that appeared in the Boston-based Gleason's Pictorial Room Companion. In contrast to the 1820 print shown in the previous blog post, this illustration shows the Yard for what it was: an active industrial site and military base. The ships in the illustration are interesting mix of old and new ships and is good representation of how the U.S. Navy was slowly changing and modernizing its fleet. On the far right is the White Elephant that was the 120-gun ship-of-the-line USS Pennsylvania. To her left is second generation 44-gun frigate USS Columbia. Her sister ship USS Savannah can be seen on the far left. Also on the far left is the remains of the historic first generation 44-gun frigate USS United States. At this point in her career, the old frigate, best known for her War of 1812 operations, was being allowed to have a quiet retirement.

Mixed among these grand sail ships of war are three steam warships, USS Powhatan, Princeton, and Allegheny. While each of these ships had a coal-fired boiler, they were very different ships. Each of them had a different form of propulsion. We often assume that widely used technology must have been obvious choice when the inventor first created his invention. But that is often not the case and was especially true when it came to figuring out what type of propulsion should go on U.S. Naval warships. Powhatan represented the first and oldest concept for steam propulsion: the paddle wheel. When Robert Fulton commissioned the first steam ship, he used this technology and the Navy adopted it for its first steam warships such as USS Mississippi and Missouri. But paddle wheels present a serious problem for warships in that they are large and above the water line, thus making the ship an easy target to immobilize.

So, the Navy went looking for a propulsion system that operated below the water line. It received two other options: Princeton with a "screw propeller" designed by the Swedish inventor John Ericsson, and Allegheny that came equipped with a horizontally mounted paddle wheels that were placed below the water line. This radical idea came from U.S. Navy lieutenant William Hunter. After building a small prototype vessel named Germ, the Navy provided the funding to try the experiment on a larger scale with Allegheny. In the end, the Navy went with Ericsson's idea after discovering it was twice as energy efficient as Hunter's design.