Steven's Battery

[Bmac48]

A rare photo - maybe the only actual photo - of Steven's battery, an attempt to build a powerful ironclad before the war started yet was never launched. Here she is an unfinished hull in Hoboken, New Jersey, possibly taken after the war ended:

More info can be found in the wiki: http://civilwarwiki.net/wiki/Stevens_Battery

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

The original order for the "Stevens Battery" was made way back in the 1840s during Abel Upshur's term as Secretary of the Navy.

Upshur also championed forward-thinking ideas like the Naval Academy, the Naval Observatory, steam propulsion for warships, the screw propeller, and personnel reform, which is interesting because he was a Southern planter and political functionary with no real naval background-- but he seems to have been able to spot good ideas when he saw them. President Tyler was so pleased with him that he made him Secretary of State when Daniel Webster resigned. Sadly, Upshur lost his life in the explosion of the "Peacemaker" gun aboard the USS Princeton, one of the ships he'd supported the construction of; otherwise, we'd doubtless have heard more from this man... certainly more cabinet posts, maybe the Presidency?

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

The name "Stevens Battery" is also sometimes applied to the the little revenue cutter USRC Naugatuck, which was constructed or altered as a sort of technology demonstrator for the big ironclad. Despite often being called an ironclad, it seems very unlikely she was actually armored, or if she was, it was not very extensive. She saw very limited action in Hampton Roads in April-May 1862 and at Drewry's Bluff, where her main armament (a single rifled gun) exploded.


Expired Image Removed

More images here.

 

[Seduzal]

Another great ship of history, thanks for posting