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USS ''Galena'' was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and supported Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry's Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating. Widely regarded as a failure, ''Galena'' was reconstructed without most of her armor in 1863 and transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864. The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and the subsequent Siege of Fort Morgan in August. She was briefly transferred to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in September before she was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for repairs in November. Repairs were completed in March 1865 and ''Galena'' rejoined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in Hampton Roads the following month. After the end of the war, the ship was decommissioned at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in June. She was transferred to Hampton Roads in 1869, condemned in 1870, and broken up for scrap in 1872. ==Background== After the United States received word of the construction of the Confederate casemate ironclad, , Congress appropriated $1.5 million on 3 August to build one or more armored steamships. It also ordered the creation of a board to inquire into armored ships. The U.S. Navy advertised for proposals for "iron-clad steam vessels of war"〔Roberts 1999, p. 5〕 on 7 August and Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy, appointed the three members of the Ironclad Board the following day. Their task was to "examine plans for the completion of iron-clad vessels".〔 Well before this date, Cornelius Bushnell had commissioned a design for an armored sloop from naval architect Samuel H. Pook in June for $1,500 anticipating an order from the Union Navy to counter the Confederate ironclad already known to be building. Bushnell expected that order because his bid, at a higher cost, for building the steam had already been accepted provided that he subcontract the construction to Charles Mallory & Sons Shipyard of Mystic, Connecticut. In exchange, the Navy asked if Bushnell could give a price on an armored gunboat. He could and subcontracted the building of his design to Maxon, Fish & Co., also of Mystic, on 20 July, the day after a bill to authorize construction of a number of armored ships was introduced in the Senate. The building of the ''Galena''s wooden hull began two days later.〔Remling, pp. 21–24〕 The Ironclad Board initially accepted two of the sixteen designs submitted in early September, the armored frigate that became and Bushnell's design. The board required a guarantee from Bushnell that his ship would float despite the weight of its armor and he needed to have his design reviewed by a naval constructor to that end. Cornelius H. DeLamater recommended that Bushnell consult with his friend John Ericsson. The two first met on 9 September and again on the following day, after Ericsson had time to evaluate ''Galena''s design and give his guarantee. During this second meeting Ericsson showed Bushnell his own design, the future ''Monitor''. Bushnell got Ericsson's permission to show the model of his design to Welles and the latter told Bushnell to show it to the board. Despite a preliminary rejection, the board accepted Ericsson's proposal on 16 September after he explained his design in person the previous day.〔Thompson, pp. 223–24〕 The three ironclad ships differed substantially in design and degree of risk. The ''Monitor'' was the most innovative design by virtue of its low freeboard, shallow-draft iron hull, and total dependence on steam power. The riskiest element of its design was its rotating gun turret,〔 something that had not previously been built or tested by any navy. Ericsson's guarantee of delivery in 100 days proved to be decisive in choosing his design despite the risk involved. The wooden-hulled ''Galena''s most novel feature was her armor of interlocking iron rails. ''New Ironsides'' was much influenced by the and was the most conservative design of the three, which copied many of the features of the French ship.〔Roberts 1999, pp. 7–11〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Galena (1862)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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