About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 137. Not illustrated. Chapters: Casco Class Monitor, Uss Casco, Uss Chimo, Uss Tunxis, Uss Umpqua, Uss Shiloh, Uss Naubuc, Uss Yazoo, Uss Nausett, Uss Napa, Uss Wassuc, Uss Yuma, Uss Waxsaw, Uss Koka, Uss Klamath, Uss Squando, Uss Modoc, Uss Shawnee, Uss Suncook, Uss Cohoes, Uss Etlah, Uss Harpy, Uss Minnetonka, Uss Spitfire, Uss Charybdis, Uss Stromboli, Uss Piscataqua, Uss Achilles, Uss Erebus, Uss Algoma, Uss Hectate, Uss Gorgon, Uss Otsego, Uss Aetna, Uss Eolus, Uss Tempest, Uss Hydra, Uss Tartar, Uss Niobe, Uss Nemesis, Uss Fury, Uss Orion, Uss Hero, Uss Iris, Uss Argos. Excerpt: The Casco-class monitor was a unique class of light draft monitor built on behalf of the United States Navy for the Mississippi theatre during the American Civil War. The largest and most ambitious ironclad program of the war, the project was dogged by delays caused by bureaucratic meddling. Twenty ships of the class were eventually built at great expense, but proved so unseaworthy when trialed that they were quickly sidelined, causing a public scandal. After the success of the US Navy's first monitor, the USS Monitor, in preventing the Confederate monitor CSS Virginia from breaking the Union blockade at Hampton Roads in spring 1862, the navy became enthused with the monitor concept (at the expense of the larger broadside ironclad type), and ordered a number of new classes of monitor, one of which was the Casco class. The Casco was a unique "light draft" class designed specifically for operating in the shallow bays, rivers, and inlets of the Confederacy. The specifications for the Casco class originally called for a vessel with a light draft, not exceeding six feet, and a low freeboard to present the smallest possible target to Confederate guns. The Navy tasked its foremost naval architect, John Ericsson, with the design. Diagram of the USS Nausett, ...
