Casco - class monitor The " Casco " - class monitor was a unique class of light draft monitor built on behalf of the United States Navy for the Mississippi theatre during the American Civil War . The largest and most ambitious ironclad program of the war , the project was dogged by delays caused by bureaucratic meddling . Twenty ships of the class were eventually built at great expense , but proved so unseaworthy when trialed that they were quickly sidelined , causing a public scandal . History . After the success of the US Navy ' s first monitor , the , in preventing the Confederate ironclad CSS " Virginia " from breaking the Union blockade at Hampton Roads in the spring of 1862 , the navy became enthused with the monitor concept ( at the expense of the larger broadside ironclad type ) , and ordered a number of new classes of monitor , one of which was the " Casco " class . The " Casco " was a unique " light draft " class designed specifically for operating in the shallow bays , rivers , and inlets of the Confederacy . The specifications for the " Casco " class originally called for a vessel with a light draft , not exceeding six feet , and a low freeboard ] ] to present the smallest possible target to Confederate guns . For the design of the new class , the Navy turned once again to John Ericsson , designer of the USS " Monitor " . [ [ File : Uss Nausett 1865 . jpg | thumb | 250px | Diagram of the USS " Nausett " , showing the large wooden " raft " surrounding the iron hullEricsson came up with a design for a - long vessel with a single revolving turret containing two guns , an armored upper deck , and twin screw propellers giving a top speed of around eight knots . Around the hull of the vessel , a large wooden " raft " was to be constructed , which would help increase buoyancy . Ericsson kept the design deliberately simple in keeping with the inexperience of the private shipyards which would be called upon to build them . He anticipated that each ship would take no more than forty days to complete . The monitor office . At around the same time however , the Navy created a new " monitor office " to centralize oversight of the new monitor program . The new office , located across the hall from Ericsson ' s design bureau , was nominally headed by Rear Admiral [ [ Francis H . Gregory ] ] , but was effectively run by [ [ Chief Engineer ] ] [ [ Alban C . Stimers ] ] , to whom was entrusted the power of setting general plans and ship specifications . Stimers , an ambitious man , was keen to take credit for the design of the new monitors and frequently visited Ericsson ' s bureau to make changes to the specifications . The greatest single alteration to the design however , came not directly from Stimers but from Admiral Joseph Smith , chief of the [ [ Bureau of Yards and Docks ] ] in [ [ Washington , D . C . ] ] , who suggested that the oval hull of the ship be surrounded by large iron tanks which could be pumped full of water in order to lower the ship ' s freeboard still further when in combat to present an even smaller target , or drained for normal travel . Stimers liked the idea and ordered the changes , but when Ericsson saw the new plans he resigned from the project . The new plans greatly added to the design ' s complexity , requiring sophisticated pumping mechanisms , while the added weight would also reduce speed and buoyancy . More design changes . In February 1863 the monitor office offered contracts for twenty of the new " Casco " - class monitors , in spite of the fact that the original architect , Ericsson , had not approved the new design . Winning bidders included prominent firms like [ [ Reaney , Son & Archbold ] ] in Chester , Pennsylvania , Wilcox & Whitney at Camden , [ [ Harlan & Hollingsworth ] ] in Wilmington , Delaware and Merrick & Sons of Philadelphia ( the latter of whom subcontracted much of the work to William Cramp & Sons ) . A number of smaller firms were also contracted . The cost was estimated at $ 395 , 000 per ship , or approximately $ 8 million in total . Some shipyards , such as Cramp , were forced to substantially upgrade their ironworking facilities for the production of the new vessels . [ [ File : Wassuc shot lifter drawing . jpg | thumb | 200px | Detail drawing by Stimers for one of the " Casco " - class monitors ] ] By the end of 1863 , frequent design changes were causing growing problems for the contractors . Stimers and his team of thirty draftsmen at the monitor office continued to submit changes even as the vessels were in the process of production , leading to long delays . One yard in Boston received a total of 83 drawings and 120 letters of explanation from Stimers , and the specification manual for the ships grew to 92 pages of small print . The final design called for a total of thirteen auxiliary engines and pumps per ship , fancy brasswork in place of cast iron , and a complex system of pipes for draining and filling the water tanks . The added weight to a ship designed with only a freeboard at the outset raised questions about the ships ' eventual seaworthiness . Scandal and inquiry . By spring of 1864 , the first of the " Casco " class vessels , the , was ready for her initial trial . Putting to sea , waves washed across the deck , while the stern remained totally submerged by three or four inches ( 10 cm ) . A second trial , of the , confirmed the disaster , with waves washing over the deck and the ship only able to make a speed of 3½ knots as opposed to the original specification of eight . Moreover , the trials were conducted " light " , without the normal operational loads of coal , ammunition and stores . The ships were unseaworthy and virtually useless . By this stage , the twenty vessels , in various stages of completion , had cost half a million dollars apiece . Amid public scandal , the Navy set up an inquiry . Stimers was found responsible and removed from his post , and the Navy appointed experienced administrators in his place . The vessels were redesigned and refitted in order to improve buoyancy , but few of them saw active service before the end of the war and those that did were decommissioned and laid up within months , while the majority were never commissioned at all . Within a few years , all the ships of the " Casco " class had been retired and scrapped or otherwise disposed of . References . [ [ Category : Monitor classes ] ] [ [ Category : Casco - class monitors | Casco - class monitors ] ] [ [ Category : Engineering failures ] ]