• Type: Ironclad Frigate, Three Sailing Masts
• Designed by: Merrick & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Built by: William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, PA
• Authorized: September 16, 1861
• Launched: May 10, 1862
• Commission: August 21, 1862
• Cost: $865,514.66
• Decommission: April 6, 1865
• Hull: Wood
• Length: 230 feet
• Beam (Width): 57 1/2'
• Displacement: 4,120 tons
• Draft: 15', 8"
• Speed: 6 knots, 8 knots max
• Crew: 460 officers & men
• Weapons: Fourteen 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbore guns, two 150-pdr Parrott rifles, iron ram on prow  
• Armor: Iron; 4 1/2" hull belt, 1" deck
• Engines: Built by Engine Building Co., Phila, PA; Two; horizontal, direct acting, 700 hp
• Propulsion: One screw
• Commanders: Commo. Thomas Turner (Jun 62-Jul 63), Commo. Stephen C. Rowan (Jul 63-Jun 64), (refit Jun-Aug 64), Commo. William Radford (Aug 64-Mar 65), LtCdr. Robert L. Phythian (Mar-Apr 65).
• Current Disposition: Survived war. Caught fire and burned up at League Island Navy Yard 16 Mar 1866 (0 killed). Remains sold to be broken up May 1867.

USS New Ironsides was a broadside ironclad United States Civil War ship, named in honor of USS Constitution, which earned the nickname "Old Ironsides" during her engagement with HMS Guerrière in the War of 1812. It was built in 1861 by Merrick & Sons at the C.H. and W.H. Cramp shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the last and largest of an initial group of three ocean-going ironclads ordered to meet the needs of the Civil War. Launched on May 10, 1862, it was commissioned in August that year. Following a lengthy fitting-out period, New Ironsides joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron on January 1863. New Ironsides operated in support of the blockade of Charleston, South Carolina for the rest of the year, and took part in several attacks on the Confederate fortifications protecting the city. New Ironsides boasted a heavy broadside battery of eight heavy guns on each side which, in addition to her armor protection, made her uniquely valuable for bombardment actions.

The first bombardment operation took place on April 7, 1863, when nine Union ironclads entered Charleston harbor and conducted a prolonged, but inconclusive, bombardment of Fort Sumter. New Ironsides was repeatedly hit by enemy cannon fire, but suffered no serious damage, unlike several accompanying vessels. During the summer of 1863, New Ironsides battered Confederate positions in the successful campaign to take Fort Wagner on Morris Island; in the process the ship was the target of a spar torpedo boat attack on August 21. Another such attack by CSS David on the night of October 5, 1863 damaged the ironclad. The damage was insignificant, and she remained on station until May 1864 when she returned to Philadelphia for repairs and a general overhaul.

With the completion of this work in late August 1864, New Ironsides was recommissioned and joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in October. She participated in a major assault in December on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in an effort to stop blockade running into the port of Wilmington. Though this attack was called off on Christmas Day after an extensive bombardment, the Union fleet returned to resume the operation on January 13, 1865. New Ironsides was one of several warships that heavily shelled Fort Fisher, preparing the way for a ground assault that captured the position on January 15. Afterwards New Ironsides supported Union activities in the Hampton Roads area for the next few months. She was decommissioned on April 7, 1865 and was laid up at League Island, Philadelphia, where on December 16, 1866, USS New Ironsides was accidentally destroyed by fire due to an unattended stove.

Official Service History: The third of the original three Union ironclads, this conventionally-designed frigate was the most powerful ironclad in the Americas, hit hundreds of times with no crippling damage. Constructed by Cramp at Philadelphia PA. Launch 10 May 62. Commissioned 21 Aug 62. NABS. Ordered from Hampton Roads to Port Royal 7 Jan 63, arrived 18 Jan 63. SABS. Alterations carried out at Port Royal. Deployed off Charleston in response to sorties of Chicora and Palmetto State 1 Feb 63. Bombarded Fort Sumter 7 Apr 63. Provided boat and crew to a boat expedition up Folly River 8 Jul 63. Operations against Forts Wagner and Sumter 18 Jul-9 Nov 63. Attacked by torpedo boat 21 Aug 63, no damage. Rescue of USS Weehawken 7 Sep 63. Attacked by torpedo boat David 5 Oct 63, slightly damaged despite direct hit. Decommissioned May 64, recommissioned Aug 64. NABS. Bombarded Fort Fisher 24-25 Dec 6, 30 Dec 64, and 13-15 Jan 65. Assigned to James River flotilla for Grant's drive on Richmond and to guard against Southern ironclads on the James. Decommissioned 6 Apr 65. Accidentally caught fire while at League Island Navy Yard and was a total loss.