USS TECUMSEH 1863

USS TECUMSEH was launched on 12 September 1863 and commissioned on 19 April 1864. The ship's construction was delayed by multiple changes that reflected battle experience with earlier monitors. This included the rebuilding of the turrets and pilot houses to increase their armor thickness from 8 inches to 10 inches, deepening the hull by 18 inches to increase the ship's buoyancy, moving the position of the turret to balance the ship better...

The result was a very well built ship. The USS TECUMSEH's hull were protected by five layers of 1-inch wrought iron plates, backed by wood. The armor of the gun turret and the pilot house consisted of ten layers of one-inch plates. The ship's deck was protected by armor 1.5 inches thick.

Tecumseh's powerful armament consisted of two smoothbore, muzzle-loading, 15-inch (381 mm) Dahlgren guns mounted in a single gun turret.  Each gun weighed approximately 43,000 pounds and could fire a 350-pound shell up to a range of 2,100 yards!

During her lifetime,  USS TECUMSEH was involved in a number of notable operations along the James River.  To guard Union shipping against Confederate forces, the Union Army and Navy worked closely together by blocking the channel to prevent Confederate warships from coming down the upper navigable reaches of the James. The USS TECUMSEH was instrumental during these operations, sinking four hulks and a schooner. 

USS TECUMSEH's most famous event was the Battle of Mobile Bay. In this battle, 18 Union ships crossed the bar at flood tide and moved into the bay. Tecumseh led a van of monitors, which included USS Manhattan, USS Winnebago, and USS Chickasaw to passed between the fortified headlands, to starboard of the wooden frigates, in order to take the fire from the heavy guns from Fort Morgan. When TECUMSEH veered left to engage the the heavy ironclad ram CSS Tennessee, she hit an underwater mine and sank rapidly with her captain and 92 crewmen.

This primarily wood USS Tecumseh model is 31" long  x 9" tall x 8 wide $2,470  Shipping and insurance in the contiguous US included. Other places: $300 flat rate. This model is in stock and can be shipped within 5 business days.

Be sure to check out our beautiful CSS Virginia, USS Monitor, USS Cairo, CSS Tennessee
 

Learn more about the USS Tecumseh here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tecumseh_(1863)