Enterprise-class gunboat
The Enterprise-class gunboats were a series of five wooden-hulled, screw-driven gunboats operated by the US Navy in the later half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The ships were ordered in 1873 when the Navy stalled technologically in the post-Civil War era. Commissioned throughout the decade, the vessels served around the world until the late 1880s. They were then repurposed as either hulks or training ships before they were sold off by 1930.
Development and design
Following the end of the American Civil War, the United States Navy had its budget and role reduced by Congress. In the first decade of peace, the only new ships in service were vessels that were laid down during the war. Congress did not fund the Navy as the nation was focused on reconstruction, developing the west, and the effects of the Long Depression. During the decade, the Navy technologically stalled as European fleets continued to modernize and embrace recent developments in armament. This status quo continued until February 1873, when Congress ordered the construction of eight new gunboats for the Navy. Three featured iron hulls and became the s, while the other five had wooden hulls.The later had a length between perpendiculars of, a beam of, and a draft of. The design placed a heavy emphasis on seakeeping and ocean-going operations, which lead to a hull design with a greater beam and draft than the Civil War-era gunboats. They displaced, several hundred tons more than previous designs such as the. The vessels were rigged as barks with about of canvas and were fitted with an economic two-cylinder vertical compound engine, one propeller, telescopic funnel, and eight boilers. The engine could produce about and each ship could reach speeds up to under both sail and steam. Armament consisted of four Dahlgren guns as a broadside along with a pivot gun mounted amidship that featured either a 9 or caliber. The ships' complement consisted of 190 sailors.