USS Keokuk ( 1862 ) USS " Keokuk " was an experimental ironclad screw steamer of the United States Navy named for the city of Keokuk , Iowa . She was laid down in New York City by designer Charles W . Whitney at J . S . Underhill Shipbuilders , at the head of 11th Street . She was originally named " Moodna " ( sometimes incorrectly spelled " " Woodna " " ) , but was renamed while under construction , launched in December 1862 sponsored by Mrs . C . W . Whitney , wife of the builder , and commissioned in early March 1863 with Commander Alexander C . Rhind in command . Design . Keokuk was one of the first warships to be of completely iron construction , with wood used only for deck planks and filler in the armor cladding . Her hull construction consisted of five iron box keelsons and one hundred 1 - inch - thick ( some sources report the thickness as 3 / 4 inch ) by 4 - inch - deep iron frames spaced 18 inches between centers . The frames included integral iron cross beams for the decks , with no transverse wood timbers as used on the " Monitor " . Her bow and stern sections were flooding spaces to allow raising and lowering her waterline . Her two stationary , conical gun towers , each pierced with three gun ports , housed one 11 - inch Dahlgren shell gun each on a shortened and rounded rotating wooden slide carriage ( the tower shape often causing her to be mistaken for a double - turreted monitor ) . Her tower and casemate armor was made up from 1 - inch - thick by 4 - inch - deep horizontal iron bars alternating with planks of yellow pine of the same dimensions , sheathed with layers of overlapping , flush - bolted - inch rolled iron plates . A total thickness of this composite armor , including the hull skin proper , was 5 . 75 inches ( 146 mm ) . The deck was made of 5 - inch wood planks overlaid with - inch - thick iron plate . She had two twin - cylinder main propulsion engines , each 250 hp . In total , " Keokuk " had nine steam engines providing power to various systems . Service history . The new ironclad departed New York on 11 March 1863 and steamed south to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron for the attack on Charleston , South Carolina , and arrived at Newport News , Virginia , two days later . She got underway again on 17 March but returned to Hampton Roads for repairs when her port propeller became fouled in a buoy anchor line . She stood out of Hampton Roads again on 22 March and arrived at Port Royal , South Carolina on 26 March . “ . . . The iron clad battery Keokuk steamed by me yesterday and I have heard that she was bound to Charleston S . C . It was a curious looking affair I assure you it had two turrets with two guns [ sic ] in each . It looked a little like this [ reasonably accurate sketch in letter ] but of course I am not an artist . . . ” As the day of attack on Charleston approached , " Keokuk " and were busy laying buoys to guide Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont ' s ironclad flotilla , which included seven monitors ( " Weehawken " , " Passaic " , " Montauk " , " Patapsco " , " Catskill " , " Nantucket " , and " Nahant " ) , and " Keokuk " , into the strongly fortified Confederate harbor . The Union ships crossed the Stono Bar on 6 April but were prevented from attacking that day by hazy weather which obscured targets and blinded pilots . The First Battle of Charleston Harbor began at noon on 7 April , but difficulties in clearing torpedo es from the path of Du Pont ' s ironclads slowed their progress . Shortly after 3 p . m . , they came within range of Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter ; and the battle began . Southern obstructions and a strong flood tide made the ironclads virtually unmanageable , while accurate fire from the forts played upon them at will . With the Union formation scrambled , " Keokuk " was compelled to run ahead of crippled to avoid her in the narrow channel after " Nahant " s pilot was killed and helmsman wounded by a Confederate shot striking the pilothouse . This brought her less than 600 yards ( 550 m ) from Fort Sumter , where she remained for half an hour receiving the undivided attention of the Confederate guns . " Keokuk " was struck by about ninety projectiles , many of which hit at or below her waterline . As predicted by her chief engineer , her thin composite armor was completely inadequate to protect her from this onslaught and she was " completely riddled " in the words of Commander Rhind . However , she was able to withdraw under her own power and anchor out of range , thanks to the skills of her pilot , Robert Smalls . Her crew kept her afloat through the night , but when a breeze came up on the morning of 8 April 1863 , " Keokuk " began taking on more water , filled rapidly , and sank off Morris Island . She had given one month of commissioned service . One of " Keokuk " ' s sailors , Quartermaster Robert Anderson , was awarded the Medal of Honor in part for his actions during the battle . In all , 14 of " Keokuk " s crew were injured in the battle , including Captain Rhind with a contusion to his leg . Acting Ensign Mackintosh , one of the gun captains , later died from his wounds . Salvage of " Keokuk " guns . A Federal survey of the wreck shortly after the battle determined that the " Keokuk " could not be refloated or destroyed , as she was almost completely filled with sand . The two 11 - inch Dahlgren guns could be easily replaced from stockpiles and were abandoned as unsalvageable . To Confederate forces , these two guns represented an opportunity to obtain badly needed artillery . The Confederacy possessed only 150 to 200 naval and coastal defense guns , none of them as large as the sunken Dahlgrens . P . G . T . Beauregard , commander of the Charleston defenses , authorized an immediate salvage operation led by a civilian , Adolphus W . LaCoste . A modified lightship " Rattlesnake Shoals " was towed into place as a salvage platform . To avoid attracting the attention of Union forces , work was done at night , during low tide , with the Confederate ironclads " Palmetto State " and " Chicora " providing protection . The Union did not suspect this activity until it was announced in the Charleston " Mercury " after the guns were recovered . The " Keokuk " guns served the Confederacy for the remainder of the war . One was destroyed , probably during the evacuation of Charleston in 1865 . The other gun tube can still be seen on the Charleston waterfront at White Point Garden , mounted on an incorrect iron fortress carriage .