USS Cohoes — a single-turreted, twin-screw monitor — was still under construction at the close of the American Civil War. She was a Casco-class, light-draft monitor intended for service in the shallow bays, rivers, and inlets of the Confederacy. These warships sacrificed armor plate for a shallow draft and were fitted with a ballast compartment designed to lower them in the water during battle.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Cohoes |
| Ordered | April 1863 |
| Laid down | 1863 |
| Launched | 31 May 1865 |
| Commissioned | Never |
| Fate | Sold, July 1874 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Casco-class monitor |
| Displacement | 1,175 long tons (1,194 t) |
| Length | 225 ft (69 m) |
| Beam | 45 ft (14 m) |
| Draft | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion | Screw Steamer |
| Speed | 9 knots (10 mph; 17 km/h) |
| Complement | 69 officers and enlisted |
| Armament | 2 × 11 in (280 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
| Armor |
|
Design revisions
editThough the original designs for the Casco-class monitors were drawn by John Ericsson, the final revision was created by Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers following Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont's failed bombardment of Fort Sumter in 1863. By the time that the plans were put before the Monitor Board in New York, NY, Ericsson and Stimers had a poor relationship, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair John Lenthall l had little connection to the board. This resulted in the plans being approved and 20 vessels ordered without serious scrutiny of the new design. $14 million US was allocated for the construction of these vessels. It was discovered that Stimers had failed to compensate for the armor his revisions added to the original plan and this resulted in excessive stress on the wooden hull frames and a freeboard of only 3 inches. Stimers was removed from the control of the project and Ericsson was called in to undo the damage. He was forced to raise the hulls of the monitors under construction by 22 inches to make them seaworthy.
Fate
editAs a result, the Cohoes was laid up at League Island Navy Yard, in 1867. Her name was changed to Charybdis on 15 June 1869 and back to Cohoes on 19 August 1869. She was sold in July 1874.
References
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This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.