USS Ajax (1864)
Ajax during the Spanish–American War
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Ajax |
| Namesake: | Ajax |
| Ordered: | 15 September 1862 |
| Builder: | Snowden & Mason, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 1862 |
| Launched: | 18 December 1864 |
| Completed: | 27 September 1865 |
| Commissioned: | 1 January 1871 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 September 1898 |
| Renamed: | USS Ajax, 15 June 1869 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 10 October 1899 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Canonicus-class monitor |
| Tonnage: | 1,034 tons (bm) |
| Displacement: | 2,100 long tons (2,100 t) |
| Length: | 224 ft 6 in (68.4 m) |
| Beam: | 43 ft 5 in (13.2 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 3 in (4.0 m) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Complement: | 100 officers and enlisted men |
| Armament: | 2 × 15-inch (381 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
| Armor: |
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Originally named USS Manayunk, after a town in Pennsylvania,USS Ajax was a single-turreted Canonicus-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Completed after the end of the war, Ajax was laid up until 1871, although she received her new name in 1869. The ship was briefly activated in 1871 before a much longer commission began in 1874–75. She was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron during this time. Ajax was again placed in reserve in 1891. The ship was on militia duty when the Spanish–American War began and she was recommissioned in 1898 to defend Baltimore, Maryland, although she was decommissioned later in the year before the necessary refit could be completed. Ajax was sold for scrap in 1899.
The ship was 224 feet 6 inches (68.4 m) long overall, had a beam of 43 feet 8 inches (13.3 m) and had a maximum draft of 13 feet 3 inches (4.0 m). Ajax had a tonnage of 1,034 tons burthen and displaced 2,100 long tons (2,100 t). Her crew consisted of 100 officers and enlisted men.
Ajax was powered by a two-cylinder horizontal vibrating-lever steam engine that drove one propeller using steam generated by two Stimers horizontal fire-tube boilers. The 320-indicated-horsepower (240 kW) engine gave the ship a top speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). She carried 140–150 long tons (140–150 t) of coal.Ajax's main armament consisted of two smoothbore, muzzle-loading, 15-inch (381 mm) Dahlgren guns mounted in a single gun turret. 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°.
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