USS Yazoo (1865)

An engraving of the USS Yazoo published in Harper′s Weekly
History
United States
NameUSS Yazoo
OrderedApril 1863
BuilderMerrick & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Yard number119
Laid downMarch 1863
Launched8 May 1865
CommissionedNever commissioned
FateSold for scrap, 5 September 1874
General characteristics
Class & typeCasco-class monitor
Displacement1,175 long tons (1,194 t)
Length225 ft (69 m)
Beam45 ft (14 m)
Draft9 ft (2.7 m)
PropulsionScrew steamer
Speed9 knots (10 mph; 17 km/h)
Complement80 officers and enlisted
Armament2 × 11 in (280 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns
Armor
  • Turret: 8 in (200 mm)
  • Pilothouse: 10 in (250 mm)
  • Hull: 3 in (76 mm)
  • Deck: 3 in (76 mm)

USS Yazoo — a single-turreted, twin-screw monitor — was laid down in March 1863, before final government approval had been given, by Merrick & Sons, Philadelphia.; launched on 8 May 1865; and completed on 15 December 1865.

Yazoo was a Casco-class monitor intended for service in the shallow bays, sounds, rivers, and inlets of the Confederacy. These warships sacrificed armor plate for a shallow draft and were fitted with a ballast compartment designed to enable them to ride exceptionally low in the water during battle.