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NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

USS LEHIGH

Passaic Class Monitor: Displacement: 1,875 tons. Dimensions: 200 x 46 x 10.5 feet/60.96 x 14.01 x 3.2 meters. Propulsion: Ericsson VL engines, 2 boilers, 320 hp, 1 shaft, 4-5 knots. Crew: 75. Armor: Iron: 3-5 inch sides, 1 inch deck, 11 inch turret. Armament: 1 dual turret with 1x15 inch Dahlgren smooth-bore, 1x11 inch Dahlgren smooth-bore.

Operational and Building Data: Contracted to John Ericsson; construction subcontracted to Reany, Son & Archbold, Chester, PA. Launched 17 January 1863, commissioned 15 April 1863. The 11 inch smooth-bore was replaced by an 8 inch Parrott t MLR immediately after completion. Operated in Hampton Roads and the James River, then off Charleston. Ran aground under enemy fire and was damaged, 16 November 1863. Decommissioned to reserve 9 June 1865. Recommissioned 15 December 1875 as a training ship for the Naval Academy, then operated off Port Royal. Decommissioned to reserve 1879. Recommissioned for Spanish American War service 18 April 1898; decommissioned 8 September 1898.
Fate: Sold for scrapping 14 November 1900.
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Passaic 39k Plan of turret for Passaic class monitors. The port stoppers can be seen clearly in this drawing. Photo courtesy of "Monitors of the U.S. Navy, 1861-1937", pg 11, by Lt. Richard H. Webber, USNR-R. (LOC) Library of Congress, Catalog Card No. 77-603596.
Passaic 61k Propeller and rudder arrangement of the Passaic class. Photo courtesy of "Monitors of the U.S. Navy, 1861-1937", pg 13, by Lt. Richard H. Webber, USNR-R. (LOC) Library of Congress, Catalog Card No. 77-603596.
LEHIGH 77k View on the Lehigh's deck, probably taken while she was serving on the James River, Virginia, in 1864-65. Probably photographed by the Matthew Brady organization. Note her turret, with a XV" Dahlgren smooth-bore in one gun port (center) and a smaller gun (probably an 8" Parrott t t rifle) in the other. Also note armored pilothouse atop the turret, armor plates and turret base ring added to the ship on the basis of combat experience, the 12-pounder Dahlgren howitzer mounted on an iron field carriage, and the bitt in the foreground. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51303.
Bunce 86k Lieut. Commander Francis Marvin Bunce commanded the Lehigh from 6 April 1864 to 26 September 1864. Photo from the book "Register of the Military Order of the Foreign Wars of the United States (1902)", courtesy of Bill Gonyo.
LEHIGH 123k Crew members exercising with a 12-pounder Dahlgren howitzer (on an iron field carriage) on the Lehigh's deck, probably while she was serving on the James River, Virginia, in 1864-65. Probably photographed by the Matthew Brady organization. Note lookout with telescope atop the turret, dents in turret and conning tower from Confederate cannon shot, and the bitt on deck in the foreground. The original negative is # 111-B-612 in the National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 59436.
MONITOR 806k Some of the enlisted crew on the monitor Lehigh pose on deck of their ironclad. The boredom of blockade duty on the James River in Virginia was broken by a photographer's party that recorded several images of monitors on the James. These men thought enough of their ship's mascots to include them in this group photo. One sailor (left of center) holds the ship's cat while the sailor in the center holds a fighting cock. The original negative is # 111-B-25 in the National Archives. Image # 524442a from the National Archives at College Park, (NARA) courtesy of Bill Gonyo.
LEHIGH 108k The Lehigh's officers pose on deck, probably while she was serving on the James River, Virginia, in 1864-65. Probably photographed by the Matthew Brady organization. Note dent in the conning tower from a Confederate cannon shot. Compare this view with Photo # NH 59436, showing how the turret has rotated while the conning tower remained stationary. The original negative is # 111-B-616 in the National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 59438.
BB-1
lehigh1k		 137k Record Group 111:
Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1985
Series:Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes, 1921 - 1940
Item: Lehigh in the James River, early 1865.		 National Archives Identifier: 525059
Local Identifier: 111-B-652.
Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov, via Daniel Hacker.
LEHIGH 122k Navy blacksmiths at work on the deck of a monitor, during the Civil War. Note photographer's chest in the right background. This ship has been identified as Lehigh, based on information on National Archives' photograph # 111-B-25. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51954.
Monitors 607k Monitors in ordinary at League Island Navy Yard: Nahant, Lehigh, Canonicus, Manhattan, Jason [ex-Sangamon],Catskill, Montauk, Mahopac & Ajax circa 1890 - 1901, but most likely taken in 1898. Insert Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo courtesy of The Herald. (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 22 April 1898, Image 10, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Photo LC-D401-21287 courtesy of loc.gov.
BB-8527kFLEET OF MONITORS THAT WILL DEFEND THE SOUTHERN COASTImage and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library.
Photo & text by The Salt Lake Herald. (Salt Lake City [Utah) 1870-1909, 18 March 1898, Image 1, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
BB-8291kTHE QUICK DEFENSE OP AMERICAN SEAPORTS
Lewis Nixon, Who Designed the Indiana (BB-1) Type of Battleship,Has a Scheme For the Defense of Our Seaports With Rifled Howitzers and Mortar Boats Which He Says Could Be Rapidly Created.
Why a Warship Cannot Be Built In a Year
How the Wartime Monitors Might Be Made Effective 		Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library.
Photo & text by Deseret Evening News.(Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 26 March 1898, Part 2, Image 16, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
LEHIGH 86k Lehigh's crewmen eating "hardtack" and resting on the monitor's deck, while she was operating at sea off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 4 May 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89459. Donation of H. Leavitt Horton, 1978.
LEHIGH 86k View on deck looking forward, showing water coming aboard while the Lehigh was underway at sea off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 4 May 1898. Note neatly coiled line in the foreground. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89460. Donation of H. Leavitt Horton, 1978.
LEHIGH 129k View looking aft with deck awash, while the Lehigh was operating at sea off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 4 May 1898. Note water splashing up from the open propeller well, and the "flying" deck structure overhead. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89460. Donation of H. Leavitt Horton, 1978.
Monitors677kOUR NAVY AS IT IS TODAY
1. Monadnock (BM-3) . 2. Petrel. 3. Puritan (BM-1) . 4. Concord. 5. Wilmington. 6. Amphitrite (BM-2) . 7. Ajax. 8. Machias. 9. Cincinnati. 10. Marblehead. 1 1. Montgomery. 12. Minneapolis. 13. Kearsarge (BB-5). 14. Kentucky (BB-6). 15. Bancroft. 16. Dolphin. 17. Vesuvius. 18. Raleigh. 19. Indiana (BB-1). 20. Iowa (BB-4). 21. Olympia. 22. Terror (M-4). 23. Catskill . 24. Miantonomah (BM-5). 25. Gustine. 26. Yorktown. 27. Texas. 28. Helena. 29. Massachusetts (BB-2). 30. Columbia. 31. New Orleans, 32. San Francisco. 33. Canonicus . 34. Camanche . 35. Monterey (BM-6). 36. Brooklyn. 37. Detroit 38. Atlanta. 39. Alabama (BB-8). 40. Albany. 41. Baltimore. 42. Chicago. 43. Newark, 44. Boston. 45. Charleston. 46. Oregon (BB-3). 47. New York. 48. Manhattan. 49. Philadelphia. 50. Lehigh. And Torpedo Boats. Drawn by "W. A. Verhas.		Image and text provided by University of Tennessee.
Photo by The Maryville Times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 28 May 1898, Image 3, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Monitors1.05kTHE MONITOR LEHIGH
Spanish ships attacking Boston will get a hot reception from the old monitors Lehigh and Catskill. The Lehigh was built by John Ericsson in 1863 and saw considerable service during the civil war. She may yet show that an old "cheesebox on a raft" is a foe to be feared by modern ships.		Image and text provided by Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ.
Photo by Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner. (Prescott, Ariz.) 1885-1903, 22 June 1898, Image 1, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
LEHIGH 77k Lehigh, photographed while she was in commission for Spanish-American War service, probably at the Boston Navy Yard in June or July 1898. Ship on the opposite side of the pier is Governor Russell. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51301.
LEHIGH 103k Lehigh was a monitor boat specifically used for harbor defense of the New England coast. Image from the book Photographic History of the Spanish-American War, p. 162, courtesy of Bill Gonyo.
Lehigh 383k Turret of the Lehigh showing dents made by shells, with the Montauk in the background, circa 1900. Photo courtesy of Tommy Trampp.
NAHANT 288k Nahant, Lehigh, Canonicus, Manhattan, Jason [ex-Sangamon], Catskill, Montauk & Mahopac lay tied up in rusting retirement, circa 1900. Photo courtesy of Tommy Trampp.
LEHIGH 189k Halftone reproduction of a close-up photograph published in the "Strand Magazine", 1st Quarter 1901, showing dents in the Lehigh's turret armor made by Confederate cannon shot during the Civil War. These same dents are visible in Photo # NH 59436, taken circa 1864-65. An interesting optical illusion can be seen if this image is turned upside down. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51302.
JunkNROLD TIME MONITORS TO BE SOLD AS JUNK.
THE MONITOR MONTAUK
The last of the old time war monitors, five in number, have been condemned by a naval board of survey and the Navy Department will shortly sell them to the highest bidders. The vessels are the Canonicus, Jason [ex-Sangamon], Lehigh, Montauk and Nahant. They are at the League Island Navy Yard. They will probably be bought by junk dealers and broken up for the iron contained in them.		Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo courtesy of The Washington Times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 19 October 1902, Image 7, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
MONTAUK 77k Montauk at left, and Lehigh at right, laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, circa late 1902 or early 1903. The ships present, at extreme left and in center beyond Montauk and Lehigh, include three other old monitors and two new destroyers (probably Bainbridge (DD-01) and Chauncey (DD-03), both in reserve at Philadelphia from November 1902 to February 1903). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 45896.
BB-4 Iowa 1.47k League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, 1900;
Note the caption in the photo says Iowa (BB-4), however she was on the west coast during this time and Indiana (BB-1) & monitors Lehigh & Montauk were all in Philadelphia. 		Detroit Publishing Company Photo by Edward H. Hart, # 4a08494v from lcweb2.loc.gov.
(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.
USS LEHIGH History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The Hazegray & Underway Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Battleship Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Monitor National Marine Santuary, NOAA.
Tour the Wreck of the Monitor.
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