When the Union Ran Out of Ironclads, They Built Timberclads

When you think of Civil War ships, you might think of the old, trusty Ironclad. Here’s what they looked like:

But there’s a curious picture in the Library of Congress that caught one librarian by surprise. It’s this one:

It looks a lot like an ironclad, but its sides are made of wood. “I’ve long admired the efficient design of the single or double turreted ironclads,” Gay Colyer writes. “In striking contrast, this vessel looked like a clumsy barge—a wood crate, too heavy for river travel.”

It turns out that these wooden ships were known at the time informally as “timberclads.” They were used as escorts to transport troops and supplies up and down the Mississippi. Normally, the Union would have used ironclads to do the job, but there were a shortage of those around and so one enterprising general bought three steamships and converted them into these clunky timberclads. “Gone were the white paint, glass pilot-house, and decorative railing. Now, five-inch thick bulwarks provided protection against small arms fire, and oak planking covered the paddle wheel,” Coyler writes.

There were only three timberclads ever made. One of them is the USS Tyler, which was 178 feet long and had six 8-inch guns. And while it might have had humble steamship beginnings, the Tyler wasn’t just a lowly transport crate. It fought in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, as seen in this image here:

So while the timberclads might look like weird, wooden boxes compared to their sleek ironclad cousins, they got the job done.

 

Rose Eveleth | | READ MORE

Rose Eveleth was a writer for Smart News and a producer/designer/ science writer/ animator based in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, Story Collider, TED-Ed and OnEarth.