Meet the deadline or pay $200 a day. James Eads had agreed to these terms for the construction of seven new ironclads. To speed production, a partner shipyard, in Mound City, Illinois, built three of the boats, including the USS Cairo. Eads' shipyard in Carondelet, Missouri built the other four. All seven were delivered within 100 days. Each boat cost $101,808, or just under 3 million dollars today.
From their first action at Forts Henry and Donelson in 1862, to the Red River Expedition of 1864, the formidable City-Class gunboats provided valuable assistance to the Union campaign on the Mississippi River. Despite an 880-ton displacement, the boats drafted a mere six-feet of water and it was said they "could navigate in a heavy dew." The USS Cairo is the only surviving example of the original seven city-class gunboats.
Click the dropdown menus to explore more about each of the City Class Ironclads
Launched:
October 1861 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Actions:
Attack on Fort Donelson, Feb 1862
Siege of Island Number 10, March 1862
Bombardment of Fort Pillow, April 1862.
Yazoo and Steele's Bayou expeditions, November- December 1862.
Ran past Vicksburg batteries, April 1863.
Severely damaged at Grand Gulf, April 1863.
Red River expedition, March-May 1864.
Fate: Sold November 29, 1865. Abandoned June 1870.
Launched:
October 1861 in Mound City, Illinois.
Actions:
Attack on Fort Henry, Feb 1862
Siege of Island Number 10, March 1862
Bombardment of Fort Pillow, April 1862.
Rammed and sunk during Fort Pillow. Raided and refitted.
Attack on Fort Hindman, January 1863.
Sunk by batteries at Vicksburg, May 1863.
Raised and refitted, August 1863.
Tombigbee River, Alabama May 1865.
Fate: Decommissioned August 4, 1865; sold March 28, 1866. Sank at moorings in the Cache River, 1866.
Launched:
October 1861 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Actions:
Hit 59 times and disabled during attack on Fort Donelson, Tenn. February 1862
Siege of Island Number 10, March 1862
Bombardment of Fort Pillow, April 1862.
Battle of Memphis, June 1862
Renamed Baron de Kalb , September 1862.
Attack on Fort Hindman, January 1863.
Yazoo and Steele's Bayou expeditions, November- December 1862.
Attack on Fort Pemberton, March 1863.
Capture of Haynes Bluff, MIssissippi May 1863.
Yazoo River expedition, May 1863.
Fate: Sunk by torpedo 1 mile below Yazoo City, July 13 1863.
Launched:
October 1861 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Actions:
Attack on Fort Donelson, Tenn. February 1862
Siege of Island Number 10, March 1862
Bombardment of Fort Pillow, April 1862.
Battle of Memphis, June 1862
Bombardment of St. Charles, Ark. June 1862.
Severely damaged in engagement with CSS Arkansas on Yazoo River, July 1862.
Ran past Vicksburg batteries, April 1863.
Bombardment of Grand Guld, April 1863.
Red River expedition, March-May 1864.
Fate: Decommissioned June 20, 1865; sold November 29, 1865; Hull became wharf boat at Gallipolis, Ohio; Engines used in towboat Quaker.
Launched:
October 1861 in Mound City, Illinois.
Actions:
Siege of Island Number 10, March 1862
Bombardment of Fort Pillow, April 1862.
Expedition up White River. BIoler hit resulting in death of 103 crewmen. June 1862.
Yazoo River expedition, August 1862.
Steele's Bayou expedition, March 1863.
Ran past Vicksburg batteries, April 1863.
Bombardment of Grand Gulf, April 1863.
Bombardment of Vicksburg, May 1863.
Red River expedition, March-May 1864.
Fate: Sold November 9,1865. Scrapped 1866.
Launched:
October 1861 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Actions:
Attack on Fort Donelson, Tenn. Feb 1862.
Siege of Island Number 10, March 1862.
Battle of Memphis, June 1862.
Engagement with CSS Arkansas above Vicksburg, July 1862.
Drumgould's Bluff, Yazoo River, Dec 1862.
Attack on Fort Hindman, Ark. Jan 1863.
Ran past Vicksburg batteries, April 1863.
Bombardment of Grand Gulf, April 1863.
Bombardment of Vicksburg, May - June 1863.
Red River expedition, March-May 1864.
Fate: Decommissioned July 21, 1865; sold November 29, 1865.
