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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 78635:  USS Monadnock off Callao, Peru, 1866

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Monadnock (1864-1874)

USS Monadnock, first of a two-ship class of 3295-ton twin-turret monitors, was built at the Boston Navy Yard. Commissioned in October 1864, she was sent to Norfolk, Virginia, to begin her Civil War service. In December 1864 and January 1865, she used her four fifteen-inch guns to support the two assaults that finally captured Fort Fisher, North Carolina, thus closing the port of Wilmington to blockade running. After Fort Fisher was taken, Monadnock went to Charleston, South Carolina, to take part in final operations against that city and its defenses. In April 1865, she served briefly on Virginia's James River, then steamed south to Havana, Cuba, where she remained until June, covering the Confederate ironclad Stonewall.

After special outfitting at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, in October 1865 Monadnock began a long voyage to California, the longest cruise that a monitor-type warship had yet undertaken. After calling at several South American ports and passing through the Strait of Magellan, she arrived at San Francisco in June 1866 and was soon thereafter decommissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard. In 1874 her wooden hull was broken up as part of a program to "rebuild" Civil War era monitors into modern ones. In fact, she was replaced by a completely new ship, which was also named Monadnock.

This page features, or provides links to, all the views we have related to USS Monadnock (1864-1874).

For pictures of USS Monadnock's participation in the attacks on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, see:

  • USS Monadnock -- Actions and Activities during the Fort Fisher Operation, December 1864 -- January 1865.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 60657

    USS Monadnock
    (1864-1874)

    Lithograph published in 1864 by Endicott & Company, New York.

    Courtesy of Commander Charles Moran, 1935.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 460 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 78635

    USS Monadnock
    (1864-1874)

    Photographic reproduction of a sketch depicting the ship off Callao, Peru, in 1866, during her voyage from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, around South America to San Francisco, California.
    The original print is mounted on a carte de visite, produced by Wm. Shew, 421 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, Calif.

    Donation of Hamilton Cochran, 1973.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 470 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 45953

    USS Monadnock
    (1864-1874)

    Sketch depicting the ship in heavy seas off Point Conception, California, 19 June 1866, near the end of her voyage from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, around South America to San Francisco, California.
    The steamer in the left distance is probably USS Vanderbilt.

    The original sketch was presented to the Naval Historical Foundation by Vice Admiral William L. Rodgers, 18 May 1938. It came from the collection of his father.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 545 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 58791

    USS Monadnock
    (1864-1874)
    and
    USS Napa (1865-1875)

    Engraving published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War", Volume II, page 226.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 235 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 61431

    USS New Ironsides (1862-1866)
    (left) and
    USS Monadnock (1864-1874) (right foreground)

    Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 3 February 1866 as part of a larger print entitled "The Iron-clad Navy of the United States.
    See Photo # NH 73986 for the complete print.
    Text printed below the image is in error concerning the date of New Ironsides' launch, which actually took place on 10 May 1862.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 121KB; 740 x 490 pixels

     

    For pictures of USS Monadnock's participation in the attacks on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, see:

  • USS Monadnock -- Actions and Activities during the Fort Fisher Operation, December 1864 -- January 1865.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 5 January 2002
    Photo caption corrected 10 July 2002