USS Galena ( 1862 ) USS " Galena " was a wooden - hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War . The ship was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and supported Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 . She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry ' s Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating . Widely regarded as a failure , " Galena " was reconstructed without most of her armor in 1863 and transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864 . The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and the subsequent Siege of Fort Morgan in August . She was briefly transferred to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in September before she was sent to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania for repairs in November . They were completed in March 1865 and " Galena " rejoined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in Hampton Roads the following month . After the end of the war , the ship was decommissioned at Portsmouth , New Hampshire in June . She was transferred to Hampton Roads in 1869 , condemned in 1870 , and broken up for scrap in 1872 . Background . After the United States received word of the construction of the Confederate casemate ironclad , , Congress appropriated $ 1 . 5 million on 3 August to build one or more armored steamships . It also ordered the creation of a board to inquire into armored ships . The U . S . Navy advertised for proposals for " iron - clad steam vessels of war " on 7 August and Gideon Welles , the Secretary of the Navy , appointed the three members of the Ironclad Board the following day . Their task was to " examine plans for the completion of iron - clad vessels " . Well before this date , Cornelius Bushnell had commissioned a design for an armored sloop from naval architect Samuel H . Pook in June for $ 1 , 500 anticipating an order from the Union Navy to counter the Confederate ironclad already known to be building . Bushnell expected that order because his bid , at a higher cost , for building the steam had already been accepted provided that he subcontract the construction to Charles Mallory & Sons Shipyard of Mystic , Connecticut . In exchange , the Navy asked if Bushnell could give a price on an armored gunboat . He could and subcontracted the building of his design to Maxon , Fish & Co . , also of Mystic , on 20 July , the day after a bill to authorize construction of a number of armored ships was introduced in the Senate . The building of the " Galena " s wooden hull began two days later . The Ironclad Board initially accepted two of the sixteen designs submitted in early September , the armored frigate that became and Bushnell ' s design . The board required a guarantee from Bushnell that his ship would float despite the weight of its armor and he needed to have his design reviewed by a naval constructor to that end . Cornelius H . DeLamater recommended that Bushnell consult with his friend John Ericsson . The two first met on 9 September and again on the following day , after Ericsson had time to evaluate " Galena " s design and give his guarantee . During this second meeting Ericsson showed Bushnell his own design , the future " Monitor " . Bushnell got Ericsson ' s permission to show the model of his design to Welles and the latter told Bushnell to show it to the board . Despite a preliminary rejection , the board accepted Ericsson ' s proposal on 16 September after he explained his design in person the previous day . The three ironclad ships differed substantially in design and degree of risk . The " Monitor " was the most innovative design by virtue of its low freeboard , shallow - draft iron hull , and total dependence on steam power . The riskiest element of its design was its rotating gun turret , something that had not previously been built or tested by any navy . Ericsson ' s guarantee of delivery in 100 days proved to be decisive in choosing his design despite the risk involved . The wooden - hulled " Galena " s most novel feature was her armor of interlocking iron rails . " New Ironsides " was much influenced by the and was the most conservative design of the three , which copied many of the features of the French ship . Design and description . " Galena " ' s original design dated 28 June was for a schooner - rigged corvette with three masts , long at the waterline with a beam of , a depth of hold of and an estimated displacement of . The ship ' s sides were protected by wrought iron plates thick , backed by of india rubber and the side of the hull . The ship ' s deck consisted of armor . A revised design was submitted to the Ironclad Board , for which a contract was awarded on 28 September , in which the sloop was enlarged , probably because it was uncertain if the original design could support the proposed armor ' s weight . As built , " Galena " was long between perpendiculars and long overall . She had a beam of , a depth of hold of , and a draft of . The ship displaced and had 738 tons burthen . The number of masts was reduced to two and the amount of tumblehome greatly increased . Her crew numbered 150 officers and enlisted men . On her only ocean voyage in her original configuration , " Galena " rolled heavily . While under construction , the armor scheme was modified . The rubber backing was replaced by an additional of iron although Commodore Joseph Smith , Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Pook were uncertain if the ship could support this weight . To reduce the weight several alternatives were proposed . One proposal was to reduce the thickness of the protection to for a distance from from the bow and stern and the other was to reduce the armor ' s thickness above the sills of the gun ports to and the deck armor ' s thickness to 1 / 2 inch over 2 1 / 2 inches of wood . It is unknown exactly how the situation was resolved , but one report on 31 March 1862 suggests that the two proposals were combined as it said that the armor was two inches thick above the gun ports , except around the stern where it was 1 / 2 inch thick . " Galena " was powered by a single - cylinder horizontal Ericsson vibrating - lever steam engine , which drove one propeller . The engine used steam generated by two boilers and gave the ship a top speed of . It had a bore of and a stroke of . During her trip to Hampton Roads after commissioning , the ship reached a speed of using her sails . The ship was armed with two , 100 - pounder Parrott rifle s in pivot mounts fore and aft and four smoothbore Dahlgren gun s . Each nine - inch gun weighed approximately . They could fire a shell to a range of at an elevation of 15° . The muzzle - loading Parrott rifles fired a shell and had a maximum range of approximately . The 20 - caliber guns weighed about each . Career . " Galena " s keel was laid down by Maxon , Fish & Co . in 1861 and she was launched on 14 February 1862 . The ship was commissioned on 21 April 1862 with Commander Alfred Taylor in command . " Galena " arrived in Hampton Roads on 24 April , after having suffered several engine breakdowns en route , and was assigned to Flag Officer L . M . Goldsborough ' s North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . Commander John Rodgers relieved Taylor the same day . When Goldsborough inspected the ship shortly after her arrival he ordered that her spar s be cut away and the nut s on the inside of her hull to be covered with sheet iron to prevent them from breaking loose when the ship was hit . " Galena " prepared for action on 4 and 7 May when the ironclad " Virginia " sortie d into Hampton Roads , but the " Virginia " did not attack . On 8 May , the ship , together with the gunboats and , sailed up the James River with orders to cooperate with Major General George B . McClellan ' s Army of the Peninsula and harass retreating Confederate forces . The ships silenced one battery and ran past another covering the river without damage before " Galena " ran aground later that day . She was not damaged , although she required a day and a half of work before she was freed . Rodgers ' ships were reinforced by the ironclads and on 12 May and they reached City Point the following day . Battle of Drewry ' s Bluff . On the morning of 15 May , " Galena " led her squadron up to Drewry ' s Bluff , about from Richmond , where the Confederates had blocked the river and placed a battery on the bluff to cover the obstacles . " Galena " anchored some from the bluff and opened fire at 07 : 45 , while the wooden ships remained further downriver . " Monitor " attempted to fire on the battery as well , but her guns could not elevate enough to reach it . " Galena " engaged the Confederate position for over three hours , until her ammunition was nearly exhausted . Her fire was largely ineffective , although her shells did manage to kill seven and wound eight members of the battery . In return , the ship was hit an estimated 44 times on her port side , of which 13 hits penetrated her armor and she had three large holes punched through her spar deck . She suffered 13 crewmen killed and a further 11 wounded . In a letter to his wife , Rodgers said that " her sides look as though she had an attack of smallpox " . Two sailors and one marine aboard " Galena " were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle : Fireman Charles Kenyon , Quartermaster Jeremiah Regan , and Corporal John F . Mackie . Mackie was the first member of the U . S . Marine Corps to receive the medal . " Galena " remained on the James River after the battle and returned to City Point . She shelled Confederate soldiers along the river banks and bombarded City Point to cover a landing force which set fire to the depots . On 27 June , Major General McClellan came aboard the ship to locate a new camp which was later established near Harrison ' s Landing . On 30 June , McClellan was compelled to withdraw down the James , covered by gunfire from " Galena " and the other gunboats . They continued to support his forces until they were transferred to Northern Virginia . " Galena " patrolled the river to defend transports and supply ships against Confederate raids and ambushes until she was detached from the James River Flotilla in September 1862 " Galena " and " Monitor " were retained at Newport News , Virginia , in case the Confederate ironclads building at Richmond sortied into Hampton Roads . " Galena " departed Hampton Roads on 19 May 1863 and arrived at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , two days later , where she was decommissioned for repairs and reconstruction . Most of her ineffective armor was removed , except around the engines and boilers ; her armament was increased to eight nine - inch Dahlgren guns and a single 100 - pounder Parrot rifle , and she was rebuilt as a ship - rigged sloop with three masts . Recommissioned on 15 February 1864 , " Galena " , now under the command of Lieutenant Commander C . H . Wells , sailed on 18 February for the Gulf of Mexico and the West Gulf Blockading Squadron . The ship became icebound at New Castle , Delaware , until she was towed out to sea by an ice boat , and was forced to put into port for repairs . She departed Norfolk on 10 May and arrived at Pensacola , Florida on 20 May for blockade duty off Mobile , Alabama , during which she shelled Fort Morgan and fired upon various blockade runner s as they attempted to evade the blockade . Battle of Mobile Bay . Rear Admiral David Farragut , commander of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron , was to split his ships into two columns . The four monitors would comprise the starboard column , closest to Ft . Morgan , and their mission was to bombard the fort while the wooden ships in the other column passed by , and to sink the ironclad ram . Once past the fort the wooden ships were to prevent the escape of the Confederate wooden gunboats to Mobile . To ensure that his wooden ships could get past Ft . Morgan , Farragut ordered that they be lashed together in pairs so that one ship could pull the other if the Confederates succeeded in knocking out its boilers or engines . " Galena " was tied to the port side of the larger sloop and the pair were the last ships in the port column when the battle began on the morning of 5 August . While passing the fort , " Oneida " had her starboard boiler disabled by a shell hit and her crew was attempting to reroute her steam to both engines when she was engaged by " Tennessee " at a range of . The ironclad only managed to fire three shots that did little damage . " Galena " was struck six times while passing the fort with little damage , although her rigging was badly cut up . Two crewmen were wounded and another died of his wounds . Four of " Galena ' s " sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle : Seaman William Gardner , Quartermaster Thomas Jordan , Quartermaster Edward S . Martin , and Coxswain Edward B . Young . " Galena " intermittently bombarded Fort Morgan until it surrendered on 23 August and sailed from Mobile Bay on 31 August to temporarily serve as a part of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron at Key West , Florida . The transfer was made permanent on 24 September and she was ordered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repair a month later . The ship did not arrive until 4 November and repairs did not begin until 22 November . " Galena " was recommissioned on 29 March 1865 and was reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . She reached Newport News on 2 April where the ship patrolled the mouth of the Nansemond River and in the James River until her departure on 6 June for Portsmouth , New Hampshire . " Galena " was decommissioned there on 17 June until she was recommissioned on 9 April 1869 for transfer to back to Hampton Roads , where she was again decommissioned on 2 June . Condemned by survey in 1870 , " Galena " was broken up in 1872 at the Norfolk Navy Yard .