The Union Navy's First Iron Ship Wasn't the Monitor-- Part 1

From the Lakewood Observer by Gary Rice.

With all the talk of the fast-approaching 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Ironclads, the USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia, the US Navy's first iron ship is often overlooked. It was the USS Michigan, launched in 1843.

Powered both by side wheel paddles and wind, it was sleek and beautiful compared to the squat Monitor and Virginia. It was also one of the first modular vessels, with its parts being made in Pittsburgh then down the Ohio River and then north on the Ohio and Erie Canal to Cleveland and then to Erie, Pennsylvania for final assembly. Remember, this was in the days before the St. Lawrence Seaway and a ship could not go from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes.


LAUNCHING AND GUN PROBLEMS

When the Michigan was launched, the ship got stuck part way down the ramp. No efforts would budge the ship. Everyone left for the night and were surprised the next day to find the ship floating in the bay. It had launched herself.

Then came the problem of cannons. The ship had been built to mount heavy cannons, but an existing agreement between Canada and the US limited guns that could be carried on the Great Lakes. The ship had to carry light armament until the Civil War.

Guarding the Confeds. --Old B-Runner