Matt's Model Boats

Pará -class monitos relied upon plates of wrought-iron and a backing of tropical hardwood, which covered the sides as well as the turrets of the river-craft, to resist the blows that they received from the batteries of the Paraguayan Army. Four and a half inches of wrought-iron plates, which were attached to fifteen-inches of solid timber, protected the sides of the fighting vessels. Six-inches of wrought-iron, which was backed by ten-inches of tropical hardwood, protected the turret from missiles. Humaitá, which was also known as Humayitá, prevented the Imperial Brazilian Navy from ascending the Paraguay River. A division of ironclads, which was stationed between Curupayty and Humaitá, awaited reinforcements from Brazil. Pará -class monitors, which arrived on the Paraguay River in the February of 1868, had been unable to participate in the earlier engagements that had occurred between the Allied armies and the forces of Francisco Solano López. A new division of ironclads, which includ...

Passaic -class monitors, which were built to the designs of Captain John Ericsson, were ironclads that mounted their guns in a single turret. Rear-admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont and Rear-admiral John Adolphus Dahlgren, during the time in which they commanded the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, directed the actions of the second generation of Ericsson batteries.  Passaic -class monitors, in the January of 1863, received their baptism of fire upon the waters of the Great Ogeechee River.  CSS Atlanta , which was an iron-cased ram that had been built upon the hull of a gun-runner, was blockaded by USS Passaic  at the time in which the Ogeechee River Expeditions were occurring. Fort McAllister, which had been established at Genesis Point, exchanged fire with the ironclads on more than one occasion.  CSS Rattlesnake , which was also known as  CSS Nashville , was destroyed by a  Passaic -class monitor while it took shelter beneath the batteries of Fort McAllis...

Savannah, as a consequence of the State of Georgia joining the Confederate States of America, was blockaded by the United States Navy. Blockade-runners, in order to deliver consignments of war material to the ports of the Southern Confederacy, attempted to communicate with Savannah while its lines of communication were being disrupted by the Federal armada.  CSS Fingal , which had been built in Scotland, delivered a cargo of firearms and rifled guns to Savannah. It proved to be impossible, however, for the merchantman to run the blockade of the city on a second occasion. A decision was made, therefore, to transform the blockade-runner into an iron-cased ram. A pair of Ericsson batteries waited for  CSS Atlanta , as CSS Fingal  became known after its conversion into a man-of-war, at Wassaw Sound. A battle between the ironclads, in the June of 1863, soon followed.  CSS Atlanta , which was armed with a battery of 6-inch and 7-inch Brooke rifles, fired the open...

USS Keokuk , which was designed by Charles W. Whitney, was an ironclad that was built in the second year of the American Civil War. Charles W. Whitney drew the plans for the iron-cased ram while Rear-admiral Joseph Smith, who was reviewing blue-prints on behalf of the Navy Department of the United States of America, approved the design. Smith, thereafter, awarded Whitney with a contract to built the fighting vessel. It was suggested, however, that expensive modifications should be made to the design of the ironclad. Service with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, at the time in which it was under the command of Rear-admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, lay on the horizon and the iron-cased ram proceeded towards South Carolina. Lieutenant-commander Alexander Colden Rhind, who would later be promoted to Commander, was appointed as the superior officer onboard the iron-plated warship. A number of ironclads, in the third year of the War of the Rebellion, were being sent to the South Atlant...