Development and Design
Commerce raiding by CSS Alabama and CSS Florida, both built in English yards, reached a point in 1863 where continued peaceful relations between the United States and Great Britain were seriously jeopardized. As a result, Congress responded by authorizing construction of a new class of screw frigates as part of the naval procurement bill of that year. These vessels, designed to be the fastest in the world, were intended for use in hit-and-run operations against British ports and commerce in the event of war. Wampanoag was the lead ship of this class.
Wampanoag contained numerous design features unprecedented in American naval construction. Her hull — designed by clipper ship architect Benjamin Franklin Delano — was unusually long and tapered relative to the vessel's beam. Her machinery, developed by controversial Naval Engineer Benjamin F. Isherwood, was unique for its geared steam engine in which slow-moving machinery coupled to fast-moving propulsion gear. Tremendous debate caused by this design delayed construction, preventing Wampanoag from being completed in time to serve in the American Civil War.
Read more about this topic: USS Wampanoag (1864)
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