A List of Ten Historical Works that Mention USS Keokuk, Part Two
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...