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NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

USS LEHIGH


Passiac Class Monitor: Displacement: 1,875 tons. Dimensions: 200 x 46 x 10.5 feet/60.96 x 14.01 x 3.2 meters. Propulsion: Ericsson VL engines, 2 boilers, 320 hp, 1 shaft, 4-5 knots. Crew: 75. Armor: Iron: 3-5 inch sides, 1 inch deck, 11 inch turret. Armament: 1 dual turret with 1x15 inch Dahlgren smoothbore, 1x11 inch Dahlgren smoothbore.

Operational and Building Data: Contracted to John Ericsson; construction subcontracted to Reany, Son & Archbold, Chester, PA. Launched 17 January 1863, commissioned 15 April 1863. The 11 inch smoothbore was replaced by an 8 inch Parrot MLR immediately after completion. Operated in Hampton Roads and the James River, then off Charleston. Ran aground under enemy fire and was damaged, 16 November 1863. Decommissioned to reserve 9 June 1865. Recommissioned 15 December 1875 as a training ship for the Naval Academy, then operated off Port Royal. Decommissioned to reserve 1879. Recommissioned for Spanish American War service 18 April 1898; decommissioned 8 September 1898.
Fate: Sold for scrapping 14 November 1900.
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PASSIAC 39k Plan of turret for Passaic class monitors. The port stoppers can be seen clearly in this drawing. Photo courtesy of"Monitors of the U.S. Navy, 1861-1937", pg 11, by Lt. Richard H. Webber, USNR-R. (LOC) Library of Congress, Catalog Card No. 77-603596.
PASSIAC 61k Propeller and rudder arrangement of the Passaic class. Photo courtesy of"Monitors of the U.S. Navy, 1861-1937", pg 13, by Lt. Richard H. Webber, USNR-R. (LOC) Library of Congress, Catalog Card No. 77-603596.
LEHIGH 77k View on the Lehigh's deck, probably taken while she was serving on the James River, Virginia, in 1864-65. Probably photographed by the Matthew Brady organization. Note her turret, with a XV" Dahlgren smoothbore in one gun port (center) and a smaller gun (probably an 8" Parrott rifle) in the other. Also note armored pilothouse atop the turret, armor plates and turret base ring added to the ship on the basis of combat experience, the 12-pounder Dahlgren howitzer mounted on an iron field carriage, and the bitt in the foreground. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51303.
LEHIGH 123k Crew members exercising with a 12-pounder Dahlgren howitzer (on an iron field carriage) on the Lehigh's deck, probably while she was serving on the James River, Virginia, in 1864-65. Probably photographed by the Matthew Brady organization. Note lookout with telescope atop the turret, dents in turret and conning tower from Confederate cannon shot, and the bitt on deck in the foreground. The original negative is # 111-B-612 in the National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 59436.
LEHIGH 124k Some of the enlisted crew on the monitor Lehigh pose on deck of their ironclad. The boredom of blockade duty on the James River in Virginia was broken by a photographer's party that recorded several images of monitors on the James. These men thought enough of their ship's mascots to include them in this group photo. One sailor (left of center) holds the ship's cat while the sailor in the center holds a fighting cock. The original negative is # 111-B-25 in the National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 59437. Text courtesy of oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.
LEHIGH 108k The Lehigh's officers pose on deck, probably while she was serving on the James River, Virginia, in 1864-65. Probably photographed by the Matthew Brady organization. Note dent in the conning tower from a Confederate cannon shot. Compare this view with Photo # NH 59436, showing how the turret has rotated while the conning tower remained stationary. The original negative is # 111-B-616 in the National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 59438.
LEHIGH 40k Lehigh in the James River, early 1865. Courtesy of hazegray.org.
LEHIGH 122k Navy blacksmiths at work on the deck of a monitor, during the Civil War. Note photographer's chest in the right background. This ship has been identified as Lehigh, based on information on National Archives' photograph # 111-B-25. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51954.
LEHIGH 86k Lehigh's crewmen eating "hardtack" and resting on the monitor's deck, while she was operating at sea off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 4 May 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89459. Donation of H. Leavitt Horton, 1978.
LEHIGH 86k View on deck looking forward, showing water coming aboard while the Lehigh was underway at sea off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 4 May 1898. Note neatly coiled line in the foreground. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89460. Donation of H. Leavitt Horton, 1978.
LEHIGH 129k View looking aft with deck awash, while the Lehigh was operating at sea off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 4 May 1898. Note water splashing up from the open propeller well, and the "flying" deck structure overhead. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89460. Donation of H. Leavitt Horton, 1978.
LEHIGH 77k Lehigh, photographed while she was in commission for Spanish-American War service, probably at the Boston Navy Yard in June or July 1898. Ship on the opposite side of the pier is Governor Russell. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51301.
LEHIGH 189k Halftone reproduction of a close-up photograph published in the "Strand Magazine", 1st Quarter 1901, showing dents in the Lehigh's turret armor made by Confederate cannon shot during the Civil War. These same dents are visible in Photo # NH 59436, taken circa 1864-65. An interesting optical illusion can be seen if this image is turned upside down. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51302.
MONTAUK 77k Montauk at left, and Lehigh at right, laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, circa late 1902 or early 1903. The ships present, at extreme left and in center beyond Montauk and Lehigh, include three other old monitors and two new destroyers (probably Bainbridge (DD-01) and Chauncey (DD-03), both in reserve at Philadelphia from November 1902 to February 1903). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 45896.
(NISMF)376kA guest studies a painting depicting the history of battleships. The artwork was painted by George Skybeck and presented to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association during their annual banquet at Honolulu, Hawaii, on 8 Dec 1991. USN photo # DN-SC-92-05391, by PHC Carolyn Harris, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.

USS LEHIGH History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The Hazegray & Underway Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Battleship Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Monitor National Marine Santuary, NOAA.
Tour the Wreck of the Monitor.

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