USS Milwaukee ( 1864 ) The first USS " Milwaukee " , a double - turreted river monitor , the lead ship of her class , built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War . The ship supported Union forces during the Mobile Campaign as they attacked Confederate fortifications defending the city of Mobile , Alabama in early 1865 . She struck a mine in March and sank without loss . Her wreck was raised in 1868 and broken up for scrap that was used in the construction of a bridge in St . Louis , Missouri . Description . " Milwaukee " was long overall and had a beam of . The ship had a depth of hold of and a draft of . She had 970 tons burthen and displaced . Her crew numbered 138 officers and enlisted men . The ship was powered by two 2 - cylinder horizontal non - condensing steam engines , each driving two propellers , using steam generated by seven tubular boilers . The engines were designed to reach a top speed of . " Milwaukee " carried of coal . The ship ' s main armament consisted of four smoothbore , muzzle - loading 11 - inch Dahlgren guns mounted in two twin - gun turret s . Her forward turret was designed by James Eads and her rear turret by John Ericsson . Each gun weighed approximately and could fire a shell up to a range of at an elevation of + 15° . The cylindrical turrets were protected by eight layers of wrought iron plates . The sides of the hull consisted of three layers of one - inch plates , backed by of pine . The deck was heavily cambered to allow headroom for the crew on such a shallow draft and it consisted of iron plates thick . The pilothouse , positioned behind and above the fore turret , was protected by of armor . Construction and service . James Eads was awarded the contracts for all four of the " Milwaukee " - class ships . He laid down " Milwaukee " at his Union Iron Works Carondelet , St . Louis in 1862 . The first U . S . Navy ship to be named after the Wisconsin city , she was launched on 4 February 1864 and commissioned on 27 August 1864 . Acting Volunteer Lieutenant James W . Magune was in command . " Milwaukee " was initially assigned to the Mississippi Squadron upon commissioning , but saw no action before she was ordered south to join West Gulf Blockading Squadron . The ship departed Mound City , Illinois on 15 October and arrived at New Orleans , Louisiana 12 days later . Lieutenant Commander James H . Gillis relieved Magune on 22 November . She was still under repair there on 27 November , although " Milwaukee " reached Mobile Bay by 1 January 1865 . Although the victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864 had closed the port of Mobile to blockade runner s , the city itself had not been taken . The Confederates fortified the approaches to the city and heavily mined the shallow waters surrounding it . On 27 March 1865 , " Milwaukee " , together several other Union ships , sortie d upriver in an attempt to cut communications between Spanish Fort and Mobile . The following day she and her sister ship steamed up the Blakely River to attack a Confederate transport and forced it to retreat . While returning downriver " Milwaukee " struck a mine in an area previously swept . She remained afloat forward , which permitted her crew to escape without loss . Another of her sisters , , rescued the survivors . In 1868 the wreck was raised and towed to St . Louis and broken up ; her iron was used in the construction of the Eads Bridge across the Mississippi River .