At least, that was the idea.
Until the middle of the 19th century, all ships, including warships, were made of wood.
On March 9, 1862, the two ironclads met each other during the Battle of Hampton Roads.
Engineer John Ericsson, who developed the original design for the Monitor, designed several new classes of monitors.
A second class of monitors, called the Canonicus, were slightly longer but marginally narrower than the Passaic.
They were to be lightly armored compared to their larger cousins the Passaic and the Canonicus.
The USS Monitor at sea.
He also put an improved heavier engine.
When the first completed vessel was put on sea trial, the deck sank below the water.
Finally, the turret was removed and a torpedo was added.
After several more trials it was concluded that the vessels were unseaworthy and completely useless.
All twenty ships were scrapped.
The fiasco cost the public $14 million in losses.
Ericsson resigned even before the ships went into production.
The Navy held Stimer responsible for the failure and had him reassigned.
The USS Casco on the James River, Virginia, 1865, while serving as a spar torpedo vessel.
Overall, the Casco class was a tremendous failure.
The last true monitor is the Parnaiba operated by the Brazilian Navy as part of their inland waterway force.
First commissioned in 1938, the Parnaiba is the oldest warship still in service.
USS Shawnee and USS Wassuc, two Casco-class monitors laid up at the Boston Navy Yard, circa 1871-72.
