USS Onandaga The USS Onandaga was the first of the double turret Monitors that the Ironclad Board of the Union Navy preferred. She was followed by four more of this configuration that were slightly larger and of a more refined design. She spent her entire career on the James River presiding over the fleet that bottled up the Confederate “Capital Navy” guarding Richmond. She was sold to the French after the war and crossed the Atlantic under her own power, thereby proving the seaworthiness of the design. She served with the French Navy until 1903. Specifications: Length-226’, Beam-51’ 5”, Draft-12’, Tonnage-2,592t, Speed-7kts, Crew-130, Armor-11” Turrets, 5” Sides, 2” Deck, 11” Pilot House, Armament- One XVin Dahlgren smoothbore and one 150lb Parrot Rifle in each turret. Built- Greenpoint, NY. Launched-July 1863. The Model: 1/72 Scale, 39 1⁄2”. The scratch built model represents the configuration that eventually evolved into the modern warship. In peacetime the area between the turrets “grew” hurricane decks like the other Monitors and that structure evolved into permanent superstructure on later ships built in the period between the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The “mixed” armament in the turrets enabled their gunnery officers to take advantage of the strengths of each type of gun.