.jpg) USS Indianola in 1863
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Indianola |
| Namesake | Indianola, Iowa |
| Ordered | April 30, 1862 |
| Launched | September 4, 1862 |
| Commissioned | September 27, 1862 |
| Out of service | Sunk February 24, 1863 and sold on January 17, 1865 |
| Fate | Raised and sold after sinking |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 511 tons |
| Length | 174 ft (53 m) or 175 ft (53 m) |
| Beam | 50 ft (15 m) or 52 ft (16 m) |
| Draft | 5 ft (1.5 m) |
| Propulsion | Sidewheel, Steam-driven screw |
| Speed | 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) or 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement | about 100 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | 3 inches (7.6 cm) of iron plate |
USS Indianola was a casemate ironclad that served as a river gunboat for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. A side-wheel steamer also equipped with two screw propellers, Indianola was built in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1862 by Joseph Brown before being taken by Union authorities while still incomplete, in response to a perceived Confederate threat to Cincinnati. After completion, the vessel briefly served on the Mississippi River and the Yazoo River before being sent downstream of Vicksburg, Mississippi in February 1863, to support the naval ram USS Queen of the West, which was operating against Confederate shipping.
After Queen of the West was disabled and captured by Confederate forces, Indianola briefly blockaded the Red River before retreating upriver after learning that the Confederates intended to attack her. On February 24, Indianola was attacked by the repaired Queen of the West and the ram CSS William H. Webb. After being rammed several times and badly damaged, Indianola ran aground and was captured. After learning that the Confederates were attempting to salvage the wreck, Union forces constructed and sent a dummy ironclad downriver, which bluffed the Confederates into destroying the wreck. The remains of Indianola were raised in January 1865 and sold later that month.