Monitors on the San Francisco Bay History & Photos
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In order to supplement the fortresses on the San Francisco Bay, improved designs of the Civil War Monitor which fought the Virginia (Merrimack) at Hampton Roads Virginia, March 9, 1862, were available for coastal defense. These were powerful vessels with huge guns and thick armor, but they were impractical for long sea voyages. The Monitor concept was based on a low profile which was easily protected and hard to hit. Five Monitors of various generations operated in the Bay and along the West Coast in the period between the Civil War and WW I.
The USS Comanche (above), a single turret Monitor was constructed, then disassembled to be shipped to San Francisco aboard the cargo vessel Aquila; she was the first Monitor to arrive on the Bay. Upon arrival in November 1863 the Aquila sunk, and the Comanche had to be retrieved from the waters of the Bay before assembly. She went into commission in May 1865, just after the end of the Civil War. This ship carried two 15 inch Dahlgren muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons in one turret.
The second Monitor sent to San Francisco Bay, was the two turret Monadnock (above). She arrived under tow via the Strait of Magellan in June 1866 just over a year after the end of the Civil War, in which she had been active. In the picture above she is heading right to left, with the bow buried in a wave. Monitors were designed for calm coastal waters. This ship carried four 15 inch Dahlgren smoothbore muzzle-loading cannons in two turrets.
Neither the Camanche or the Monadnock saw much service; most of the time they lay decommissioned at Mare Island ready for reactivation in case of war, or for periodic training exercises. The Monadnock was scrapped in 1874 as part of a slight-of-hand where repair funds were used to build a new Monadnock, technically a "rebuild" of the original (see below). The Camanche was not retired until 1899.
Construction on the second Monadnock (above from stern) began in 1874 at Vallejo, as a "repair" of the original. It took 22 years to complete the project as funding was scarce, and the project was a low priority. She was launched in 1896 a few years before the Spanish American War. For her first couple of years she patrolled the West Coast. During the war she was sent across the Pacific to the Philippines for service with Admiral Dewey after his victory in Manila Bay. The Monadnock never returned from Asian waters, where she served until after WW I. This ship was armed with four10-inch rifles in two turrets, with four small rapid-fire cannons: two 6-pound guns and, two 3-pound guns.
The USS Wyoming (above & below) was the last Monitor; she was built in San Francisco, launched in 1900, fitted-out at Mare Island, and commissioned in 1902. In 1909 she was renamed Cheyenne, so that the Wyoming name could be used for a new battleship. This ship patrolled the West Coast including San Francisco Bay from 1902 to 1913, when she as converted to a submarine tender, with some duties in the Bay. In 1918 she was transferred to the Atlantic in the role of submarine tender, but soon was back in patrol duties protecting American lives in Mexico in 1919. Soon thereafter she was inactive or in auxiliary roles until she was scrapped in 1939. This ship was armed with two12-inch rifles in the forward turret, four 4-inch rifles in armored casemates, and three rapid-fire 6-pound guns at the stern and sides.
The Wyoming at anchor in her original configuration.
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