1861 - Thomas Rowland's Instructions Regarding the Building of a Union Ironclad

Description

1861 - Thomas Rowland's Instructions Regarding the Building of a Union Ironclad
1861 - Thomas Rowland's Instructions Regarding the Building of a Union Ironclad
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Description
1861 - Thomas Rowland's Instructions Regarding the Building of a Union Ironclad
Correspondence between Thomas F. Rowland, Colonel William Borden, and J. B. Andrews regarding the fabrication of ironwork parts needed in the construction of the ironclad,
USS New Ironsides.
Greenpoint (Brooklyn), New York: 1861.
This 3-page letter and endorsement measure approximately 8” x 9”. It was apparently carried by courier between Rowland’s Continental Iron Works and the Providence Tool and Armory Company, which employed both Borden and Andrews, as there are no postal markings. The letter has two horizontal folds and the cover is docketed, “W. Borden Order. – Oct. 22d/61.” It is in nice shape with some small splits beginning at the folds.
The Brooklyn shipyard, especially Rowland’s Continental Iron Works, was an especially bustling place when this order was placed. The U.S. Navy had recently learned that the Confederacy was soon to launch the
CSS Virginia
(better known as the
Merrimac
) and had contracted for the rapid construction of three ironclad prototypes with three different firms. The Maxon,
Fish
, and Company began what was to become the
USS Galena
, Merrick & Sons designed what would become the
USS New Ironsides
, and Battery Associates led the conglomerate that would build the
USS Monitor
.
Rowland’s firm was subcontracted to build the
Monitor’s
hull at the
Geenpoint
shipyard and apparently elements of the other two vessels as well. In this document, Borden urgently forwards Rowland’s order to Andrews to
fabricate
fittings for carriages to hold eight 8” guns and ten pivot or slide carriages for Parrot guns. In Rowland’s order to Borden, he includes a sketch and detailed specification of the fittings for the 8” gun carriages.
The archivist at the Mariners’ Museum, the official
repository
of the Monitor Collection believes these parts were most likely used in the
construction
of the New Ironsides, although that cannot be positively confirmed as no archives of company records for Merrick & Sons exist.
A unique record
of
a critical shipbuilding project in the middle of a Civil War arms race.
#8823
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