TFSmith121
Banned
Roanoke at least could sail from Brooklyn NY to
Roanoke at least could sail from Brooklyn NY to the Chesapeake, and under her own power; Virginia could barely make way against the tide.
The point on Colorado and her sisters is that if the USN had needed sea-going ironclads, they could have been easily and minimally converted in any of the Navy yards by removing the masts and spars and rigging and the upper deck as a razee; sheath the razee and the result is an ironclad, wooden hulled steam sloop of war, both sooner and much more effectively than the abomination that was Virginia.
And, of course, the USN already had six steam frigates, as large or larger than Merrimac, while the two ironclad frigates built for Italy were also underway at the same time; this is in response to Sap's suggestion that somehow Virginia was a) a juggernaut the US could not cope with; and b) seaworthy.
She was neither.
Best,
Roanoke was never an effective unit either after her conversion, and relegated to harbour defence.
Roanoke at least could sail from Brooklyn NY to the Chesapeake, and under her own power; Virginia could barely make way against the tide.
The point on Colorado and her sisters is that if the USN had needed sea-going ironclads, they could have been easily and minimally converted in any of the Navy yards by removing the masts and spars and rigging and the upper deck as a razee; sheath the razee and the result is an ironclad, wooden hulled steam sloop of war, both sooner and much more effectively than the abomination that was Virginia.
And, of course, the USN already had six steam frigates, as large or larger than Merrimac, while the two ironclad frigates built for Italy were also underway at the same time; this is in response to Sap's suggestion that somehow Virginia was a) a juggernaut the US could not cope with; and b) seaworthy.
She was neither.
Best,
Last edited: