Member Model – Civil War Monitors CSS Atlanta and USS Weehawken

The C.S.S. Atlanta (pictured top right) was a Confederate States casement ironclad converted in early 1862 from the hull of a British steam blockade runner named Fingal.  The Atlanta was commissioned on November 22, 1862. Measuring 204’ long with a beam of 41’ and draft of 15’9”, she displaced 1006 tons and was manned by a crew of 145. She was armed with two 7” and two 6.4” Brooke rifled cannons.

          The U.S.S. Weehawken  (picture top left) was one of 10 Passiac Class second -generation monitors built in late 1862, after the world’s first monitor, the U.S.S. Monitor, was tested in battle against the C.S.S. Merrimac (Virginia) at Hampton Roads.

          She was built by Zeno Secor & Company, launched in November of 1862 at Jersey City, New Jersey and commissioned on January 18, 1863. Measuring 200’ long with a beam of 46’ and a draft of 10’6”, she displaced 1192 tons and was manned by a crew of 75. She was armed with one 15” and one 11” Dahlgren smooth bore cannon.