(1865)
Monadnock, named after
Mount Monadnock, a mountain in southern
New Hampshire, was
laid down at the
Boston Navy Yard in
Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1862. The ship was
launched on 23 March 1863 and
commissioned on 4 October 1864. She subsequently steamed to
Norfolk, Virginia, and there
Commander Enoch Parrott assumed command on 20 November. On 13 December she departed Norfolk for the assault against
Fort Fisher and joined the
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron two days later. The reinforced squadron approached Fort Fisher on 24 December as part of the
Union fleet. At ranges of she bombarded the fortification and continued throughout the day. The following morning she resumed shelling the fort as 2,000
Army troops under the command of General
Benjamin F. Butler landed north of the fort. The soldiers were withdrawn later that day when Butler received word of approaching Confederate troops and worsening weather that would prevent him from evacuating his troops. Although the Navy had believed that its fire was accurate and effective, A second assault was begun on the morning of 13 January 1865 with the ironclads the first to fire in the hopes of provoking the Confederate gunners to retaliate and reveal the positions of their gun so that they could be engaged by the rest of the fleet. The ironclads had anchored to make their fire more accurate and
Monadnock kept up a slow and deliberate fire during the day and into the night. Resupplying ammunition at night the ship kept up her fire through the 15th. After
Rear Admiral David D. Porter ordered that his ships were to aim at the walls of Fort Fisher rather than the flag, the bombardment was much more effective and many guns were dismounted or disabled.
Monadnocks side armor was struck five times during the battle with little damage inflicted; the turrets and the ventilation pipe were also hit five times with no damage recorded. One of the monitor's sailors,
Quartermaster William Dunn, was awarded the
Medal of Honor for his actions in the Fort Fisher engagements. After the
Confederates abandoned Charleston and its surrender on 18 February,
Monadnocks crew took possession of the
blockade runner the following day and the monitor entered
Charleston Harbor on the 20th. After a stay at
Port Royal, South Carolina, she steamed to
Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 15 March On 2 April, she steamed to support the final assault on Richmond and then assisted in clearing the river of
naval mines. Returning to Hampton Roads on 7 April, The French-built ship had been ordered by the Confederacy, embargoed and sold to
Denmark in 1864 and resold to the Confederacy in January 1865. Delayed by
rudder problems, she was en route to the United States and ultimately made landfall in Spanish Cuba on 15 May. The squadron departed two days later and put into Charleston Harbor on the 22nd to re-coal and to be reinforced by the monitor before continuing on to
Havana, Cuba. They arrived on 28 May to find that the
Stonewall had been temporarily turned over to the Spanish government.
Monadnocks presence no longer required, she arrived at
Norfolk, Virginia, on 12 June and continued onwards to the
League Island Navy Yard in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to prepare for her impending voyage to California.
Monadnock departed on 5 October in company with the
paddle frigates and and the
sloop . the squadron transited the
Strait of Magellan and arrived at Valparaíso in late March 1866 as a Spanish squadron was preparing to bombard the undefended town, contrary to international law, during the
Chincha Islands War.
Commodore John Rogers, commander of the American squadron, attempted to persuade Admiral
Casto Méndez Núñez to forego the bombardment, but the latter claimed it was a point of Spanish honor. Rogers even had his ships clear for action in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate Méndez Núñez and was prepared to open fire if he received support from the small British squadron in the harbor. That was not forthcoming as the British
minister in the town forbade
Rear-Admiral Joseph Denham to act and Rogers was forced to stand down.
Monadnocks arrival at
Acapulco coincided with a Mexican siege of the town's French defenders during the
Second French intervention in Mexico. The squadron continued on to
San Francisco, anchoring off that city on 21 June. On 26 June she proceeded to
Vallejo, and entered the
Mare Island Navy Yard where she was decommissioned on 30 June. Although Congress was informed by the Navy Department that the Civil War-era ship was being repaired, a new iron-hulled monitor of the
same name was built with repair money and the proceeds of her sale because Congress refused to fund any new construction at that time. ==References==