City-class ironclad

City-class ironclad
	USS Baron DeKalb in 1862
Class overview
Name	City class
Builders	James B. Eads, St. Louis, Missouri
Operators	U.S. Army, until October 1, 1862;; thereafter U.S. Navy;
Cost	$191,000, approximate average
Lost	2
Retired	5
Preserved	1
General characteristics
Type	Gunboat
Displacement	512 tons
Length	175 ft (53 m)
Beam	51 ft 2 in (15.60 m)
Draft	6 ft (1.8 m)
Installed power	two non-condensing reciprocating steam engines
Propulsion	22 ft (6.7 m) diameter paddle wheel
Speed	8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement	251
Armament	3 × 8 in (203 mm), 4 × 43-pounder (19 kg), 6 × 32-pounder (14.5 kg) (January 1862)
Armor	2.5 in (64 mm) on casemate, 1.5 in (38 mm) on pilot house;; hull, deck, and stern unprotected;

The Pook Turtles,^[4] or City-class gunboats to use their semi-official name, were war vessels intended for service on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. They were also sometimes referred to as "Eads gunboats." The labels are applied to seven vessels of uniform design built from the keel up in Carondelet, Missouri shipyards owned by James Buchanan Eads. Eads was a wealthy St. Louis industrialist who risked his fortune in support of the Union.^[5]

The City-class gunboats were the United States' first ironclad warships.^[a]

The gunboats produced by Eads formed the core of the United States Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla,^[b] which later was transferred to the US Navy and became the Mississippi River Squadron. Eads gunboats took part in almost every significant action on the upper Mississippi and its tributaries from their first offensive use at the Battle of Fort Henry until the end of the war.^[c]

^ Gibbons, Warships, p. 16.
^ ORN ser. II, v. 1, pp. 42, 49, 52, 58, 180. Gibbons, Warships, p. 16
^ Civil War Naval Chronology, II-100.
^ Guttman, Jon (2010-08-13). "City-Class Gunboats: Mayhem on the Mississippi". HistoryNet. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
^ Joiner, Mr. Lincoln's Brown Water Navy, pp. 17–18.

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[1] Gibbons, Warships, p. 16.

[2] ORN ser. II, v. 1, pp. 42, 49, 52, 58, 180. Gibbons, Warships, p. 16

[3] Civil War Naval Chronology, II-100.

[4] Guttman, Jon (2010-08-13). "City-Class Gunboats: Mayhem on the Mississippi". HistoryNet. Retrieved 2021-07-23.

[5] Joiner, Mr. Lincoln's Brown Water Navy, pp. 17–18.

[3]

[1]

[2]

[4]

[5]

[a]

[b]

[c]

Class overview
USS Baron DeKalb in 1862
Name	City class
Builders	James B. Eads, St. Louis, Missouri
Operators	U.S. Army, until October 1, 1862; thereafter U.S. Navy^[3]
Cost	$191,000, approximate average^[1]
Lost	2
Retired	5
Preserved	1
General characteristics
Type	Gunboat^[2]
Displacement	512 tons
Length	175 ft (53 m)
Beam	51 ft 2 in (15.60 m)
Draft	6 ft (1.8 m)
Installed power	two non-condensing reciprocating steam engines
Propulsion	22 ft (6.7 m) diameter paddle wheel
Speed	8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement	251
Armament	3 × 8 in (203 mm), 4 × 43-pounder (19 kg), 6 × 32-pounder (14.5 kg) (January 1862)
Armor	2.5 in (64 mm) on casemate, 1.5 in (38 mm) on pilot house; hull, deck, and stern unprotected