Milwaukee-class monitor
An 1866 drawing of USS Chickasaw
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Milwaukee class |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy
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| Preceded by: | USS Ozark |
| Succeeded by: | Marietta class |
| Built: | 1863–65 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Scrapped: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | River monitor |
| Displacement: | 1,300 long tons (1,300 t) |
| Tons burthen: | 970 bm |
| Length: | 229 ft (69.8 m) |
| Beam: | 56 ft (17.1 m) |
| Draft: | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Installed power: | 7 × Tubular boilers |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement: | 138 |
| Armament: | 2 × 2 - 11-inch (279 mm) Smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
| Armor: |
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The Milwaukee-class monitors were a class of four riverine ironclad monitors built during the American Civil War. Several supported Union forces along the Mississippi River in mid-1864 before participating in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August. Chickasaw and Winnebago bombarded Confederate coastal fortifications during the battle and during subsequent operations as well as engaging the ironclad Tennessee II. The other two ships arrived at Mobile Bay after the battle and all four supported the land attacks on Mobile in March–April 1865. Milwaukee struck a torpedo during this time and sank. The surviving three ships were sold in 1874; Chickasaw was converted into a ferry and survived until 1944 when she was scuttled. Her wreck was discovered in 2004.
The Milwaukee-class monitors had their origin in an order from Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, to Commodore Joseph Smith, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, on 16 April 1863 to recommend four more river ironclads that could mount four 11-inch (279 mm) Dahlgren guns on a draft no more than 6 feet (1.8 m). James Eads received the contract to build four iron-hulled, twin-turreted ironclads, partly due to the influence of Missouri Congressman Frank P. Blair, Jr. Eads retained two of the ships, but subcontracted the other two to other builders.
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