Former Site of Continental Iron Works (New York City, New York)

 shipyard, ironworks, historical layer / disappeared object, United States Navy, American Civil War 1861-1865

From 1851 to 1889 Continental Iron Works, which occupied this plot of land on the East River, engaged in shipbuilding operations and at the request of the US/Union Government. With the Union involved in a pitched and violent Civil War with the Confederacy, Continental Iron Works began work on one of the most revolutionary warships in history, the Ironclad USS Monitor.

Designed by John Ericsson, the USS Monitor was a low-freeboard Ironclad warship which featured a revolving turret armed with two 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbore cannons. Laid down here in October 1861, the USS Monitor launched on January 30th, 1862 and entered US/Union Navy service on February 25th, 1862. The Monitor's later battle with the Confederate Ironclad CSS Virginia in Hampton Roads, VA less than a month later forever changed naval history, as sail powered ships began to become obsolete in the face of iron-hulled steam powered ships.

Following the construction of the USS Monitor, Continental Iron Works was quickly awarded contracts for another seven Ironclads, which were constructed through the end of the Civil War. The yard would go on to construct ships until 1889 when all shipbuilding activities ceased and the Continental Iron Works reverted to iron manufacture and fitting. Despite its brief stint in shipbuilding, the Continental Iron Works had a massive impact on both history and the future, as the ships built here would eventually spawn the all-metal Pre and Post Dreadnaught Battleships, which would rule the waves until the 1940's.


For a list of ships built here, please see:
www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/in...