USS Kickapoo ( 1864 ) USS " Kickapoo " was 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 was placed in reserve after the end of the war and sold in 1874 . Description . " Kickapoo " was long overall and had a beam of . The ship had a depth of hold of and a draft of . She had a tonnage of 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 . " Kickapoo " 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 a single iron plate 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 subcontracted " Kickapoo " to G . B . Allen & Co . of St . Louis , Missouri who laid down the ship in 1862 . She was the first U . S . Navy ship to be named after the Indian tribe , and was launched on 12 March 1864 . " Kickapoo " was brought to Mound City , Illinois , on the Ohio River , for fitting out and commissioned on 8 July 1864 with Lieutenant David C . Woods in command . The ship was initially assigned to the Mississippi River Squadron and spent the summer off the mouth of the Red River . She was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron on 1 October . Although the victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 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 . Lieutenant Commander Meriweather P . Jones relieved Woods on 23 December . On 28 March 1865 , " Kickapoo " was at anchor in the Blakely River when her sister ship struck a mine in an area already swept some away . " Milwaukee " remained afloat forward long enough to allow her crew to escape without loss and they were rescued by " Kickapoo " . She rescued the crew of the river monitor the following day after that ship also struck a mine and sank . In late June , the ship sailed to New Orleans to be placed in ordinary ; she was decommissioned on 29 July . " Kickapoo " was renamed to " Cyclops " on 15 June 1869 and then " Kewaydin " on 10 August . The ship was sold on 12 September 1874 . References . = 178 = External links = =