The Monitor “Monterey,” on the Willamette River.
Willamette River, 1900 (10/75)
The Monitor “Monterey,” on the Willamette River.
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What is THAT?!?
Monterey-class monitor, a predecessor to battleships.
Battleships from the golden era always seem strange because of their low decks. Even a decent Columbia river chop would want to submerge the whole damn thing, so I understand why they minimize their above-water profile.
The monitor’s light draft allows her to run into and out of any port along our coasts. Battleships cannot access Atlantic harbors south of the Chesapeake at all tide stages. A vessel of this type can only enter the Golden Gate, Puget Sound, and under exceptionally favorable conditions, the Columbia River on the Pacific side. In a seaway, monitors cannot sight their guns, which is absurd. A few years ago, Admiral Bunch took the Monterey into the ocean to look for a storm. Under conditions that would have rendered it impossible for battleships to use their guns, the ship survived two big gales and floated like a duck on water. The Columbia river bar could be passed by her when merchant steamers did not dare.”
After the Virginius affair with Spain in 1873, the US Navy ordered four monitors of the Amphitrite class. Amphitrite, Monadnock, Terror, and Miantonomoh were the four ships of the class. A fifth ship, Puritan, of the same design, was later fitted with extra armor and designated a unique class. Due to design changes and the reluctance of Congress to appropriate funding for their completion, Puritan and Amphitrite remained under construction for a very long time.
Can you believe the size of that gun? Did the ship capsize when it fired???
yeah it looks like it could use about a dozen feet more freeboard, doesn’t it?
In the picture, they’re about to fire. This is why everyone was called to get their weight in front of the boat.
So… stand in front of the boomer but not technically in the precise line of fire of the ordinance? Seems, difficult to execute in an actual battle situation.
What are they shooting at? A beaver dam?
Yes. The USA once went to war with beavers, much like Australia went to war with Emus. Those god dam beavers kept damming up our god dam rivers.