USS Marietta (1864)
| Career | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Marietta |
| Ordered: | 16 May 1862 |
| Builder: | Tomlinson & Hartupee, Pittsburgh |
| Laid down: | 1862 |
| Launched: | Between 1 – 6 December 1864 |
| Completed: | 16 December 1865 |
| Acquired: | 25 April 1866 |
| Renamed: | Circe, 15 June–10 August 1869 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 12 April 1873 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Monitor |
| Displacement: | 479 long tons (487 t) |
| Length: | 170 ft (51.8 m) |
| Beam: | 50 ft (15.2 m) |
| Draft: | 5 ft (1.5 m) |
| Propulsion: |
4 × horizontal tube boilers 2 × steam engines 4 × 6 ft 6 in (2 m) screws |
| Speed: | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement: | 100 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 2 × 11 in (280 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
| Armor: |
Turret: 6 in (150 mm) Pilothouse: 1.25 in (32 mm) Hull: 1.25 in (32 mm) Deck: 1.25 in (32 mm) |
USS Marietta, a light draft, single-turreted, ironclad, screw monitor, was laid down in the summer of 1862. Primary construction was at the Tomlinson and Hartupee yard in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, owned by Joseph Tomlinson and Andrew Hartupee. However, Hartupee had a separate partnership with a man named Samuel Morrow and they operated a secondary company that was also heavily involved in the construction process. Though the three men knew each other, it appears that they were not full partners as Tomlinson and Hartupee Co. had a different location from Hartupee and Morrow Co. The US government allocated $188,000 US for the construction of the Marietta.
Construction
Construction of the Marietta was slow and time consuming. The reports of the hull and machinery inspectors often mentioned that more men needed to be employed. Letters were sent to the contractors stressing the need for haste, but nothing seemed to alter the continued slow pace of construction. The many changes were incorporated during the construction by Navy inspectors further lengthening the process.
Original plans for the Marietta resembled the USS Ozark in many ways. The turret was 20 feet wide and was followed with an aft deckhouse. There were also twin smokestacks similar to the Mississippi River steamboat designs. The original plans also called for a forward, pyramidal pilothouse, similar to the one on the USS Monitor, however it is believed that the pilothouse was moved to the top of the turret before construction was completed. The Marietta had four horizontal, tubular steam boilers powering two western steamboat type engines that propelled the vessel with four 6 feet 6 inch (2 meter) propellers. She also had three rudders.
History
Marietta launched as a gunboat early in December 1864; completed 16 December 1864; and accepted by the Navy on 25 April 1866. She was never commissioned. Soon after her acceptance Marietta was laid up at Mound City, Illinois. Renamed Circe on 15 June 1869, the gunboat carried that name only until 10 August, when she was again named Marietta. Remaining at Mound City, Marietta was sold 12 April 1873 to David Campbell.
References
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
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