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Rare Early Image of the Nantucket
The lithograph of the U.S. Monitor Nantucket produced by the renowned New York firm Endicott & Co. captures the vessel in profile against a tranquil maritime backdrop, emphasizing its distinctive design and historical significance.
The work highlights the Nantucket’s flat, armored deck, cylindrical turret, and towering smokestack, features that defined it as a coastal monitor during the Civil War. American flags at the stern and atop the turret underscore its role as a Union warship.
The U.S. Monitor Nantucket was part of the Union Navy’s ironclad fleet, developed during the Civil War to counter the Confederate Navy’s ironclads. It belonged to the Passaic class, a series of improved single-turret monitors designed by John Ericsson following the success of the original Monitor at the Battle of Hampton Roads. The Nantucket was launched on December 6, 1862, from the Atlantic Iron Works in Boston, Massachusetts.
Built for coastal operations, the Nantucket featured a reinforced hull, a revolving turret housing a pair of heavy Dahlgren guns, and increased armor compared to its predecessor. However, like other monitors, it had a low freeboard, limiting its seaworthiness in rough waters. Its design prioritized defense and firepower over speed, making it a formidable opponent in riverine and coastal engagements.
The Nantucket saw action during the Union Navy’s blockade of Confederate ports, a critical component of the Anaconda Plan. The vessel participated in the April 1863 attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Although the assault failed to capture the fort, the Nantucket demonstrated the durability of ironclad monitors under heavy fire.
Following its service at Charleston, the Nantucket continued to patrol the Atlantic coast, supporting Union forces in their efforts to suppress Confederate supply lines. While its low freeboard made it unsuitable for high-seas operations, the Nantucket excelled in the shallow waters of Southern harbors and estuaries, where its maneuverability and firepower were most effective.
After the Civil War, the Nantucket remained in service, reflecting the Navy’s continued reliance on ironclads during the transitional period between wooden warships and more advanced steel-hulled vessels. Retired from active duty in 1875, the Nantucket was recommissioned during the Spanish-American War in 1898, serving as a training ship and harbor defense vessel.
![[ War of the First Coalition -- Capture of La Résistance and La Constance ] To Captain Sir H. Neale of His Majesty's Frigate St. Fiorenzo And Captain John Cooke of His Majesty's Frigate La Nymphe, Officers, Seamen, and Marines, This Print representing The Capture of La Resistance & La Constance, French Frigates, Close in with Brest, 9th March, 1797, is respectfully Inscrib'd by Nicholas Pocock](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/108597.jpg)
