View source for USS Etlah (1864)

{{other ships|USS Etlah}}
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1874}}
|Ship name= USS ''Etlah''
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|Ship ordered=April 1863
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|Ship laid down=1864
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|Ship commissioned= Never commissioned
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|Ship fate= Sold, 12 September 1874
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class= {{sclass|Casco|monitor||warship}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|1175|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|225|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|45|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=Screw
|Ship speed= {{convert|9|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
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|Ship complement=69 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament= 2 × {{convert|11|in|mm|abbr=on}} smoothbore [[Dahlgren gun]]s
|Ship armor=*Turret: {{convert|8|in|mm|abbr=on}}
*Pilothouse: {{convert|10|in|mm|abbr=on}}
*Hull: {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}
*Deck: {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}
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'''USS ''Etlah''''', a [[gun turret|single-turreted]], [[Propeller (marine)|twin-screw]] [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]], was still under construction at [[St. Louis, Missouri]], at the close of the [[American Civil War]]. A ''Casco''-class, light-draft monitor, she was intended for service in the shallow bays, rivers, and inlets of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. These warships sacrificed [[armor plate]] for a shallow [[draft (hull)|draft]] and were fitted with a [[Sailing ballast|ballast]] compartment designed to lower them in the water during battle.

Though the original designs for the ''Casco''-class monitors were drawn by [[John Ericsson]], the final revision was created by Chief Engineer Alban B. Simers following [[Rear Admiral]] [[Samuel F. Du Pont]]'s failed bombardment of [[Fort Sumter]] in 1863. By the time the plans were put before the Monitor Board in [[New York City|New York, NY]], Ericsson and Simers had a poor relationship and Chief of the [[Bureau of Construction and Repair]] [[John Lenthall (shipbuilder)|John Lenthall]] had little connection to the board. This resulted in the plans being approved and 20 vessels ordered without serious scrutiny of the new design.  $14 million US was allocated for the construction of these vessels. It was discovered that Simers had failed to compensate for the armor his revisions added to the original plan and this resulted in excessive stress on the wooden hull frames and a freeboard of only 3 inches. Simers was removed from the control of the project and Ericsson was called in to undo the damage. He was forced to raise the hulls of the monitors under construction by 22 inches to make them seaworthy.

The entire class was considered a disappointment, and ''Etlah'' was laid up at one or another location until sold 12 September 1874. Between 15 June and 10 August 1869, she bore the name '''''Hecate''''' while being laid up at [[Mound City, Illinois|Mound City, IL]].

== References ==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/e5/etlah.htm}}

{{Casco class light draft monitor}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etlah}}
[[Category:Casco-class monitors]]
[[Category:Ships built in St. Louis]]