USS Essex (1856)

Essex at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 1862
History
United States
NameNew Era
Launched1856
Acquired20 September 1861
Decommissioned20 July 1865
RenamedEssex in late 1861
Refitas an ironclad late 1861
Fatesold on 29 November 1865; scrapped 1870
General characteristics
TypeIronclad
Displacement640 tons
Length202 ft (62 m)
Beam60 ft (18 m)
Draft6 ft (1.8 m)
Speed5.5 knots
Complement124
Armament1 × 32-pounder; 3 × 11-inch Dahlgren smooth bores;1 × 10-inch Dahlgren smoothbore;1 × 12-pounder howitzer
Armor1 ¾" forward casemate, ¾" sides
A contemporary illustration of the 1861 conversion of the steamer New Era into the gunboat USS Essex.

USS Essex was a 1000-ton ironclad river gunboat of the United States Army and later United States Navy during the American Civil War. It was named by her captain, William Porter, for his father's old sailing frigate, the USS Essex. This Essex was originally constructed in 1856 at New Albany, Indiana as a steam-powered ferry named New Era.