USS Ajax, originally named USS Manayunk after a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, was a single-turreted built for the

Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were und ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. Completed after the end of the war, ''Ajax'' was

laid up A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

until 1871, although she received her new name in 1869. The ship was briefly activated in 1871, before a much longer commission began in 1874–1875. She was assigned to the

North Atlantic Squadron The North Atlantic Squadron was a section of the United States Navy operating in the North Atlantic. It was renamed as the North Atlantic Fleet in 1902. In 1905 the European and South Atlantic squadrons were abolished and absorbed into the Nort ...

during this time. ''Ajax'' was again placed in reserve in 1891. The ship was on militia duty when the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cl ...

began and she was recommissioned in 1898, to defend

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, Maryland, although she was decommissioned later in the year before the necessary refit could be completed. ''Ajax'' was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered m ...

in 1899.

Design

''Ajax'' was long overall, had a beam of and had a maximum

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

of . ''Ajax'' had a tonnage of 1,034

tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship bas ...

and displaced . Her crew consisted of 100 officers and enlisted men. ''Ajax'' was powered by a two-cylinder horizontal

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vibrating-lever steam engine that drove one

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

using steam generated by four Stimers horizontal

fire-tube boiler A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating t ...

s. The engine gave the ship a top speed of . She carried of coal. ''Ajax''s main armament consisted of two

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without s ...

muzzle-loading A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern (higher tech and harder to make) desi ...

, Dahlgren guns mounted in a single

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

. Each gun weighed approximately . They could fire a shell up to a range of at an elevation of +7°. The exposed sides of the hull were protected by five layers of wrought iron plates, backed by wood. The armor of the gun turret and the

pilot house The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topped with a flying bridge The bridge, also known as the pilothouse or wheelhouse, is a room or platfo ...

consisted of ten layers of one-inch plates. The ship's deck was protected by armor thick. A soft iron band was fitted around the base of the turret to prevent shells and fragments from jamming the turret as had happened during the First Battle of Charleston Harbor in April 1863. The base of the

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

was protected to a height of by of armor. A "rifle screen" of armor high was installed on the top of the turret to protected the crew against Confederate snipers based on a suggestion by

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

Tunis A. M. Craven,

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

. The only known modification after the ship's completion was the addition of a hurricane deck between the turret and the funnel sometime after the end of the Civil War.

Construction

The contract for construction of ''Ajax'', originally named ''Manayunk'', after a

, was signed by Snowden & Mason, on 15 September 1862. Her keel was laid down later in the year in Snowden & Mason's new shipyard at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania. The ship's construction was delayed by multiple changes ordered while she was being built that reflected battle experience with earlier monitors. This included the rebuilding of the turrets and pilot houses to increase their armor thickness from to 10 inches and to replace the bolts that secured their armor plates together with rivets to prevent them from being knocked loose by the shock of impact from shells striking the turret. Other changes included deepening the hull by to increase the ship's buoyancy, moving the position of the turret to balance the ship's trim and replacing all of the ship's deck armor. She was ready to be launched in April 1864, but the very low level of the Ohio River rendered that impossible. She was finally launched on 18 December. While

fitting out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her ...

, ''Ajax'' was ripped loose from her moorings on 5 March 1865, and she had to be towed back to her berth. The following day she was towed to Mound City, Illinois, where she arrived on 11 March. Snowden & Mason had to pay $7,000 for the tow as well as ship of material needed to finish the ship.

Service history

The monitor joined her sisters and

in ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair ...

opposite

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, Illinois, when she was completed on 27 September 1865, although they drew enough water that they had to be anchored in the main channel where they were often struck by debris, drifting ice, and were vulnerable to accidents. This was a persistent problem and the Navy finally decided to move the ships down to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Charles Love Franklin, and transferred to

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

, Florida, to participate with the North Atlantic Squadron on coast defense maneuvers. She was decommissioned on 1 July 1871, and laid up at the

Philadelphia Navy Yard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...

. After a thorough

overhaul Overhaul may refer to: *The process of overhauling, see ** Maintenance, repair, and overhaul ** Refueling and overhaul (eg. nuclear-powered ships) **Time between overhaul *Overhaul (firefighting), the process of searching for hidden fire extensio ...

, ''Ajax'' was recommissioned on 13 January 1874, with Commander Joseph N. Miller, in command. The ship was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron and was based at Key West, until she was decommissioned again on 27 July 1875, and laid up at

Port Royal Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping an ...

, South Carolina. Recommissioned on 5 November 1875, the ship remained at Port Royal, until moved to the

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. She was moored at Brandon and at

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, Virginia, before being placed in ordinary at

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, on 30 June 1891. On 26 September 1895, ''Ajax'' was loaned to the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

Naval Militia A naval militia is a reserve military organization administered under the authority of a state government in the United States. It is often composed of reservists of the Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve, retirees ...

and moored at

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, New Jersey. She was recommissioned for local defense duties on 9 July 1898, during the

in response to pressure from local politicians. The ship was intended for service at Baltimore, but she was decommissioned on 1 September 1898, before the necessary refit had been completed. ''Ajax'' was sold at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 10 October 1899.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajax (1869) Canonicus-class monitors Ships built in Pittsburgh 1864 ships Spanish–American War monitors of the United States