Miantonomoh's profile was dominated by a single smoke funnel at amidships with each circular turret emplacement placed fore and aft of this structure. Despite its raised freeboard, the vessel still held a relatively low hull profile from the waterline which was a consistent quality of other ironclads of the war. Well armed and armored, the warship was nonetheless a plodding design with a wide turning radius - qualities also shared between many of the armored Civil War warships. Her structure supporting each turret was also constructed of wood which eventually proved a flaw in her design - prone to rotting and fracturing under the stressed of the heavy guns as well as general wear-and-tear heaped upon the supports by the salty sea.
Miantonomoh's service career formally began in 1865 - the final year of the war. She was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron and patrolled the American East Coast lanes for a time. With the war over, she steamed from New York to Europe the following year by way of Nova Scotia/ Newfoundland before crossing the heart of the Atlantic. From the Irish coast, she landed at Cherbourg, France in June 1866 and remained in European waters while conducting various stops. She then entered the Baltic Sea for a meeting in Russia during July where she impressed observers from the Russian Navy. She then made her way to Caribbean waters before settling back stateside at League Island, Philadelphia on July 22nd.
With her ocean-going days judged firmly behind her, Miantonomoh's service to the United States Navy ended on July 26th, 1867 when she was decommissioned. However, she was quickly recommissioned for limited service once more during November 1869 and used in the funeral procession of noted philanthropist / entrepreneur Geroge Peabody in a journey from London to Massachussetts. With this endeavor now complete, Miantonomoh was decommissioned for the final time on July 28th, 1870 - this time in Boston waters. During 1874, she was moved to Pennsylvanian waters as a cover to a new American ship-building program. When this decoy mission was over her hulk was scrapped (1875) leaving just her name to the history books. Some of her remains made up the new Amphitrite-class (dubbed "New Navy" monitors) ordered in 1874 - one of the class being named USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) in her honor and serving from 1882 until 1907. This vessel is detailed elsewhere on this site.
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