USS Monadnock ( 1863 ) The first USS " Monadnock " , a twin ‑ screw , wooden ‑ hull , double - turreted , ironclad monitor was laid down at the Boston Navy Yard , Charlestown , Massachusetts , in 1862 ; launched 23 March 1863 ; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard 4 October 1864 , Captain John M . Berrien in command . It was named after Mount Monadnock , a mountain in southern New Hampshire . Background . The only monitor of the " Monadnock " - class to see action during the Civil War , the " Monadnock " was designed by Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair John Lenthall . Lenthall actually designed four monitors at that time . The " Monadnock " and the were the first and are considered the two " Monadnock " - class vessels . Lenthall altered the designs of the next two , the and the and dubbed them the " Miantonomoh " - class . Because of the similarities between the two classes they are sometimes referred to collectively as the " Miantonomoh " - class . The " Monadnock " used powerful steam engines designed by Chief of Steam Engineering , Benjamin F . Isherwood . Her hull design was also much more streamlined than monitors designed by John Ericsson . Unfortunately , her internal frames were only 4 . 5 in oak and like Lenthall ' s conversion , the weight of her turrets weakened the structural integrity of the hull and she was prone to rotting and cracking . Service history . Civil War . In service , the " Monadnock " steamed to Norfolk , Virginia , and there Commander Enoch Greenleafe Parrott took command on 20 November 1864 . On 13 December she departed Norfolk for the assault against Fort Fisher . She joined Rear Admiral David D . Porter ' s North Atlantic Blockading Squadron on 15 December , and four days later departed Beaufort , North Carolina , to join the Union fleet massed to attack Confederate defenses on the Cape Fear River . On the morning of Christmas Eve , she closed the entrance of the river , guarded by Fort Fisher . At less than 1 , 200 yards from shore she began bombarding the fortification and continued throughout the day . The following morning she resumed shelling as 2 , 000 Army troops under the command of General Benjamin F . Butler landed north of the fort . However , after coming close to the fort , the troops were pulled back and reembarked in the landing boats . The attack was renewed 13 January 1865 . Through the 15th , " Monadnock " again shelled the fort ' s defenses , disabling many of the guns . Firing continued until the last gun on the sea face was silenced , well after the troops , under Major General Alfred Terry , and sailors and Marines had launched their final and successful assault . During the action , perhaps the largest amphibious operation in American history prior to World War II , " Monadnock " was struck five times . One of " Monadnock ' s " sailors , Quartermaster William Dunn , was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Fort Fisher engagements . Having aided in the closing of the port of Wilmington , North Carolina , the South ' s last important link in the overseas supply lifeline , " Monadnock " turned toward Charleston , South Carolina . On 19 February , while still in the Charleston area ; she sent a volunteer crew to take possession of blockade runner " Deer " . After a stay at Port Royal , South Carolina , she steamed to Hampton Roads 15 March . On 2 April , she steamed up the James River to support the final assault on Richmond , Virginia and then assisted in clearing the river of torpedoes to allow safe passage to the fallen Confederate capital . Returning to Hampton Roads 7 April , she sailed out into the Atlantic on 17 April , en route to Havana , where she kept watch over CSS " Stonewall " . Back at Norfolk by 12 June , she entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 20 June to fit out for her cruise to the west coast . Cruise around South America . " Monadnock " departed Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 5 October ; with , , and . Temperatures in the fire - room ranged from 120 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit ( 49 – 60 degrees Celsius ) near the equator . Stokers collapsed daily from heat prostration and special inducements of extra pay and spirits were offered to men to take their place . During part of the trip , her crew rigged a single square sail and jib which increased speed by 1 . 5 knots . After stops at numerous South American ports , she transited the Strait of Magellan and arrived at Valparaíso , Chile while a Spanish squadron was bombarding the town during the Chincha Islands War . Peru later purchased American monitors and for use in the War of the Pacific . " Monadnock " s arrival at Acapulco coincided with Mexican attempts to end French intervention in Mexico . The squadron continued on to San Francisco , anchoring off that city on 21 June 1866 . On 26 June she proceeded to Vallejo , California and entered the Mare Island Navy Yard where she decommissioned 30 June . In 1874 her wooden hull was broken up as part of a program to " rebuild " Civil War era monitors into modern ones . In fact , she was replaced by a completely new ship , which was also named .