USS Monitor Legacy Program: City-Class Ironclads: The Pook Turtles

John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, will present the multifaceted history of USS Monitor, and the program will be in person and livestreamed from the Explorers Theater at the Museum.

Attendees are welcome to send comments or questions to John, and he will answer them following his talk. Advance registration is required whether you attend this event in person or online.

About the presentation: Control of the Mississippi River was one of the Union’s major war aims from the very beginning of the conflict. Inventor James Eads developed a design that could be easily built, had limited draft, was armored, and had stream power. These ironclads became the backbone of the US Western Gunboat Flotilla. The City-class iron gunboats had many flaws; nevertheless, ships like USS Cairo and USS Carondelet, enabled the federal fleet to win such great victories as Battle of Island No. 10 and the Battle of Memphis. These actions would result in the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863.