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NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

USS MIANTONOMOH


Info courtesy of hazegray.org.
Miantonomoh Class Monitor: Displacement: 3,400 tons. Dimensions: 258.5 x 53 x 13 feet/78.8 x 16.07 x 3.86 meters. Propulsion: HRCR engines (Agamenticus & Monadnock had Ericsson VL engines), 4 boilers, 2 shafts, 1,400 ihp, 9 knots (design), 6.5 knots actual in some ships. Crew: 150. Armor: Iron: 5 inch sides, 1.5 inch decks, 10 inch turrets. Armament: 2 dual turrets, each with 2x15 inch Dahlgren smoothbore.

Concept/Program: Larger dual-turreted monitors, generally considered the best US monitors of the era. Two ships of the class undertook major ocean voyages, indicating a vast improvement in seaworthiness over the earlier classes.
Design: Designed by the Navy. The hull was of conventional form, but was unfortunately wooden, not iron. Freeboard was 31 inches. The turrets were similar to those of the Passaic class , but slightly larger; a pilothouse was fitted atop each turret. There was a light hurricane deck between the turrets, a tall funnel and a tall ventilation shaft. There were variations among the ships, and some sources identify them as four one-ship classes. Tonawanda's turrets were closer together than in the other three ships.
By the 1870's the wooden hulls were badly rotted, and the ships were disposed of. They were nominally "repaired" as "New Navy" monitors, but in fact the old wooden ships were sold to the shipbuilders as partial payment for the new iron ships, and were scrapped.

Operational and Building Data: Built by New York Navy Yard. Laid down 1862, launched 15 August 1863, commissioned 18 September 1865. Sent to Europe under tow in 1866; operated in European waters 16 June 1866 to 15 May 1867. Decommissioned to reserve 26 July 1867; recommissioned 15 November 1869; decommissioned to reserve 28 July 1870.
Fate: Transferred to John Roach, Chester, PA for scrapping, 1874, as partial payment for a new monitor of the same name.
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MIANTONOMOH 67k Watercolor of the Miantonomoh by Oscar Parkes. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 59544. Courtesy of Dr. Oscar Parkes, London, England, 1936.
MONTAUK 86k Ships moored in the Anacostia River off the Washington Navy Yard, D.C. waterfront, after the end of the Civil War, about 1865. The large twin-turret monitor in the center is Miantonomoh, with the smaller monitor Montauk tied up alongside her, to the left. In the left distance are the "light draft" monitor Chimo and the twin-turret monitor Tonawanda. The former Confederate ironclad Stonewall is beyond them. In the right distance is the Yard's western shiphouse. Ship at right is probably Resaca.
The original print is mounted on a carte de visite produced by Christimo, 45 Rua de Quitanda, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 		U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 58936. Courtesy of Mrs. W.E. Taylor, 1941, from the collection of Medical Inspector William E. Taylor, USN.
MONTAUK 84k Miantonomoh moored off the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., in 1865-66. Montauk is tied up alongside, to the left. The Navy Yard's western shiphouse is visible in the right background. Photo mounted on a stereographic card. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 86239. Courtesy of the Steamship Historical Society of America, 1952. Collection of Rosmar S. Devereaux.
MIANTONOMOH 53k Miantonomoh in dry dock in New York, 1866. USN photo by Hudson & Kearns, courtesy of old-print.com. Photo from a print of The Illustrated London News, June 1866, page 652.
MIANTONOMOH 79k Miantonomoh in 1866. Photograph by Hudson & Kearns, courtesy of old-print.com. Photo from a print of The Illustrated London News, July 1866, page 53.
MIANTONOMOH 77k Miantonomoh in Kiel Harbor, Germany, 1866. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46259. Courtesy of Louis H. Smaus, 1986.
MIANTONOMOH 99k Miantonomoh in a European port, during her trans-Atlantic cruise, 1866. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 100774. Courtesy of Andrew Tabak, 1986.
MIANTONOMOH 104k Asssistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox (6th from left, 2nd row) with Russian officers and officers of Miantonomoh and Augusta, during his visit to Europe in 1866. Others identified in this group are: Captain Alexander Murray, USN, Commanding Officer, Augusta (3rd from left, 2nd row); and Commander John C. Beaumont, USN, Commanding Officer, Miantonomoh (7th from left, 2nd row). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 50747.
MIANTONOMOH 106k Miantonomoh at Malaga, Spain, 24 December 1866 - 3 January 1867 during her European cruise. The photo was probably taken on 26 December when the log made specific mention of the ship being crowded with visitors. Augusta, her companion on the cruise, is in the left background. Majotity text courtesy of "Monitors of the U.S. Navy, 1861-1937", pg 21, by Lt. Richard H. Webber, USNR-R. (LOC) Library of Congress, Catalog Card No. 77-603596.
Photo courtesy of Mrs. William E. Taylor, 1941, from the collection of Medical Inspector William E. Taylor, USN. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46260.
MIANTONOMOH 1.04k Miantonomoh's junior officers on her afterdeck, circa 1869-1870. Among those present are: Lieutenant Thomas Perry (4th from left); and Surgeon Newton L. Bates (extreme right). Note the XV" shot in rack by the hatch in the foreground. Text courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 85301. Courtesy of Mrs. Earl H. Hatton, 1977.
Photo courtesy of Blake Cornish via Gary Priolo.
MIANTONOMOH 88k Miantonomoh's enlisted crewmen on board, circa 1869-1870. Miantonomoh cap ribbons are visible some of these men, with ship name readable on the original print. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 85302. Courtesy of Mrs. Earl H. Hatton, 1977.
MIANTONOMOH 123k Rear Admiral Robert Wilson Shufelt was commissioned Captain, 31 December, 1869, and commanded the monitor Miantonomoh in 1870, after which he had charge of the Tehuantepec and Nicaraguan surveying expeditions of 1870-71. USN photo courtesy of Bill Gonyo.
MIANTONOMOH 432k Color drawing of the Miantonomoh. Photograph courtesy of Tommy Trampp.
MIANTONOMOH 80k Peabody Funeral Fleet, January 1870, probably photographed at Portland, Maine. The most distant ship, in right center, is HMS Monarch, which carried the body of the late philanthropist George M. Peabody home to the United States for burial. Her escort, Plymouth, is next closest to the camera. The twin-turret monitor is probably Miantonomoh, which was detailed to meet the funeral ships when they arrived in U.S. waters. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 85303-A. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation.
MIANTONOMOH 79k 19th Century photograph of an artwork, showing the Miantonomoh fitted for an ocean voyage, with single-mast sailing rig, raised bow bulwark and elevated pilothouses atop her turrets, circa 1870. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46258.
MIANTONOMOH 106k Miantonomoh laid up and housed over at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1871-72. A "light-draft" monitor, either Shawneeor Wassuc, is moored beside her. Sabine is refitting on the opposite side of the pier. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 85968. Courtesy of Martin Holbrook, 1977.
MIANTONOMOH 108k Shawnee and Wassuc laid up at the Boston Navy Yard, circa 1871-72. Miantonomoh is at the extreme right, housed over. The original photograph is the left side of a stereographic pair. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 100992. Courtesy of Louis H. Smaus, 1986.
MIANTONOMOH 89k Hulk of the Miantonomoh lying at Boston in 1874 - her armor, turrets and other fittings have been removed and she is in reality only a hulk. USN photo & text courtesy of "Monitors of the U.S. Navy, 1861-1937", pg 45, by Lt. Richard H. Webber, USNR-R. (LOC) Library of Congress, Catalog Card No. 77-603596.
(NISMF)376kA guest studies a painting depicting the history of battleships. The artwork was painted by George Skybeck and presented to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association during their annual banquet at Honolulu, Hawaii, on 8 December 1991. USN photo # DN-SC-92-05391, by PHC Carolyn Harris, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Monitor National Marine Santuary, NOAA.
Tour the Wreck of the Monitor.
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