USS Monarch

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title: "USS Monarch" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-civil-war-patrol-vessels-of-the-united-states", "ships-of-the-united-states-army", "ships-of-the-union-navy", "paddle-steamers-of-the-united-states", "ships-built-in-ohio", "1853-ships", "shipwrecks-in-rivers", "american-civil-war-shipwrecks-in-the-mississippi-river", "maritime-incidents-in-march-1861", "maritime-incidents-in-december-1864", "united-states-ram-fleet", "morrow-county,-ohio"] description: "Sidewheel, American Civil War" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monarch" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Sidewheel, American Civil War ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	USS Monarch CW.jpg
image_caption	USS Monarch and her sister ship USS Queen Of The West
section2	{{Infobox ship/career
country	United States
flag	[[Image:US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg
name	Monarch
namesake	Previous name retained
launched	1853
acquired	April 1862
commissioned	1862
decommissioned	After July 1863
fate	Scrapped July 1865
section3	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
displacement	406 tons
length	180 ft
beam	37 ft
propulsion	Side-wheel steamer
complement	120 officers and men
armament	1 30-pounder cannon, 3 12-pounder howitzers
::

|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=USS Monarch CW.jpg |image_caption=USS Monarch and her sister ship USS Queen Of The West

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag=[[Image:US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg|48px|Union Navy Jack]]
|name=Monarch |namesake=Previous name retained |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |yard_number= |way_number= |laid_down= |launched=1853 |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=April 1862 |commissioned=1862 |recommissioned= |decommissioned=After July 1863 |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |motto= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Scrapped July 1865 |notes= |badge=

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |type= |tonnage= |displacement=406 tons |tons_burthen= |length=180 ft |beam=37 ft |draft= |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion=Side-wheel steamer |sail_plan= |speed= |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity= |troops= |complement=120 officers and men |crew= |time_to_activate= |sensors= |EW= |armament=1 30-pounder cannon, 3 12-pounder howitzers |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes=

'*USS *Monarch''''' was a United States Army sidewheel ram that saw service in the American Civil War as part of the United States Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade. She operated on the Mississippi River and Yazoo River during 1862 and 1863.

Construction and acquisition

Monarch was built as a sidewheel towboat at Fulton, Ohio, in 1853. She sank in the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky, on 5 March 1861, but was refloated and repaired. The United States Army purchased her at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in April 1862 for service in support of Union Army operations and converted her into a ram in 1862 for service in conjunction with the Western Flotilla on the Mississippi River as part of the Army′s United States Ram Fleet under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr. She was commissioned at Pittsburgh with Captain R. W. Sanford in command.

Service history

First Battle of Memphis

Main article: First Battle of Memphis

After fitting out at New Albany, Indiana, Monarch began active duty with the Ram Fleet. Steaming downriver in May 1862, she scouted Fort Pillow, Tennessee, in June 1862 and joined her sister ship, the sidewheel paddle steamer , and the ironclad gunboats , , , , and in the Battle of Memphis on 6 June 1862. Engaging the Confederate River Defense Fleet, the rams destroyed seven of the Confederate ships, wiping out the Defense Fleet as an effective naval force. During the battle, Monarch rammed the cottonclad rams CSS Colonel Lovell and General Beauregard. The Union forces took Memphis, Tennessee, on 6 June 1862, clearing the upper Mississippi River of Confederate forts and naval craft.

On 26 June 1862, Monarch and the ram pursued General Earl Van Dorn down the Mississippi and up the Yazoo River, the Confederates burning General Earl Van Dorn below Yazoo City, Mississippi, to prevent her capture.

Battle of Vicksburg

Main article: Battle of Vicksburg

Beginning in June 1862, Monarch operated against Vicksburg, Mississippi. Monarch and five other ships departed Helena, Arkansas, on 16 August 1862 on a U.S. Army-U.S. Navy expedition in Mississippi up the Yazoo River with troops landing at various points along the shore and destroying Confederate artillery batteries on the river. Union ships captured the sidewheel paddle steamer CSS Fairplay above Vicksburg on 27 August 1862; Monarch then cruised the Yazoo with the sidewheel paddle steamer to prevent Confederate use of the steamer Paul Jones and to hinder communications with Vicksburg. Later that year, Monarch swept naval mines in the Yazoo.

Battle of Arkansas Post

Main article: Battle of Arkansas Post (1863){{!}}Battle of Arkansas Post

Monarch joined 11 other ships in the expedition to capture Fort Hindman, Arkansas, 4 January 1863, a point that Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter noted as "a tough nut to crack." Joining efforts with Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's troops on 9 January 1863, the Union ships fought in the Battle of Arkansas Post and shared in the capture of Fort Hindman on 11 January.

Later service

In February 1863, Monarch steamed up the Yazoo to Greenville, Mississippi, to relieve Commander Prichett, controlling guerilla activity. In April 1863, she joined the rams , , and in supporting Colonel Ellet's marine brigade in the Tennessee Valley.

With the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863 and the collapse of Confederate naval forces on the western rivers, Monarch′s mission was accomplished. She was laid up on the Mississippi River below St. Louis, Missouri, after July 1863 and was dropped from the naval list in 1864, but remained in reserve, ready for recall to active service. She was sunk by ice in December 1864, but was refloated and taken to Mound City, Illinois, for dismantling in July 1865.

References

References

1. [http://scubagonewild.com/documents/Encyclopedia%20of%20Civil%20War%20Shipwrecks%20-%20(Malestrom).pdf Gaines, W. Craig, ''Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks'', Louisiana State University Press, 2008] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-11-29 , {{ISBN). 978-0-8071-3274-6, p. 100.

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