Seven Ironclads in 100 Days

James Eads agreed to build seven new ironclads under terms that required him to meet the deadline or pay $200 a day. To speed production, a partner shipyard built three of the boats, including the USS Cairo, while Eads' shipyard built the other four, and all seven were delivered 100 days later. The USS Cairo and her six sister boats were named for towns along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Unlike the wooden sailing ships used at the beginning of the Civil War, these ironclads had steam driven engines, armor plating, 13 cannon, and a top speed of nine miles per hour. They became the backbone of the brown-water navy, a fleet designed to operate in rivers and shallow coastal waters. James B. Eads, an engineer and shipyard owner, was hired to build the ironclads at an average cost of $101,808 each, and ironclads were constructed in the Union Marine Works shipyard at Carondelet, Missouri.

Vicksburg, Mississippi · United States