https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od5oQjErv7k
Head to https://www.squarespace.com/drachinifel to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code DRACHINIFEL Today we take a look at the

https://emergingcivilwar.com/2024/04/30/uss-monitor-the-half-charge-myth/
11-Inch Dahlgren smoothbore. Many published descriptions of the battle of Hampton Roads (including my recent book) explain that USS Monitor expended only "half charges" of powder in her 11-inch Dahlgren guns during that legendary fight with CSS Virginia on March 9, 1862. Hindsight then and since spawned several engaging "what ifs" (see previous post), one of which holds that, had

https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2000/august/guns-monitors
Guns for the Monitors. When the little USS Monitor fought her historic battle against the CSS Virginia, her guns proved unable to defeat the Confederate vessel's armor. Designs for new and larger guns soon were under way—so that by 1864, when a Union fleet fought its way into Mobile Bay, a new XV-inch Dahlgren gun helped defeat the much

https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2019/april/early-architect-amphibious-doctrine
Dahlgren's foresight is worth taking into account when considering John Lejeune as the visionary of amphibious warfare. But while Dahlgren's concepts predate some of Lejeune's by decades, the admiral can never take Lejeune's place as the father of the modern Marine Corps. 1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monitor
USS Monitor was an ironclad warship built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War and completed in early 1862, the first such ship commissioned by the Navy. Monitor played a central role in the Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March under the command of Lieutenant John L. Worden, where she fought the casemate ironclad CSS Virginia (built on the hull of the scuttled steam frigate

https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/58027
USS Monitor's Dahlgren guns get custom boring. It has taken 158 years but it is now possible to stare down the freshly-cleaned barrel of one the Dahlgren guns from the USS Monitor. The ironclad Monitor engaged the Confederate ironclad Virginia, formerly the USS Merrimack, on March 9th, 1862. It went down in history as the first battle in

https://www.marinersmuseum.org/conservation/uss-monitor/
USS Monitor mounted two XI-Inch Dahlgren shell guns as its primary armament. When the ship's turret was recovered, these 16,000-pound behemoths were still inside! The gun carriages - a unique design allowing the guns to fire from Monitor's first-of-its-kind rotating turret - were also recovered, along with numerous tools used to clean, load, and fire the guns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Dahlgren
John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren (November 13, 1809 - July 12, 1870) was a United States Navy officer who founded his service's Ordnance Department and launched significant advances in gunnery.. Dahlgren devised a smoothbore howitzer, adaptable for many sizes of craft and shore installations. He then introduced a cast-iron muzzle-loading cannon with vastly increased range and accuracy, known

https://www.marinersmuseum.org/2022/08/an-uplifting-story-recovering-monitors-artifacts/
Published August 3, 2022. By Will Hoffman. On December 31, 1862, USS Monitor was caught in a storm and sank 16 nautical miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in more than 230 feet of water. It is believed the vessel went down stern first, turning over so that its revolutionary 120-ton revolving gun turret separated and became pinned under

https://www.marinersmuseum.org/event/uss-monitor-legacy-program-rear-admiral-john-a-b-dahlgren/
About the Lecture. John Dahlgren was a naval ordnance officer who invented a boat howitzer and the famous Dahlgren naval shell gun. Six IX-inch versions were employed aboard CSS Virginia, and two XI-inch guns were mounted on USS Monitor.Dahlgren also designed the XV-inch shell gun, which, when used in the turrets of subsequent monitors, could destroy Confederate ironclad casemates, a

https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2021/03/08/uss-monitor-gun-carriages/
The USS Monitor's revolving turret was a mechanical marvel, the first in the world to be mounted on a ship. It fired nearly 360 degrees around the ship, with its sole blind spot being where the ship's pilot house sat on the deck. The turret housed two 11-inch Dahlgren guns resting on specially designed gun carriages, and it was the

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/z-files/zb-files/zb-files-d/dahlgren-john-a.html
Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren (1809-1870) was a naval ordnance innovator and commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Dahlgren became a midshipman in 1826. Service on the U.S. Coast Survey (1834-37) distinguished his early career. In 1847, Lieutenant Dahlgren was assigned to ordnance duty at the Washington Navy Yard. Over the next fifteen years, he invented and

https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/historical-figures/john-a-dahlgren.html
The "father of American naval ordnance" was born in Philadelphia on 13 November 1809. John A. Dahlgren was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy in 1826. Six years later, due to his mathematical proficiency, the Navy ordered him to the U.S. Coast Survey, where he worked as a scientist from 1834-37. During this time, he also studied naval ordnance and how to improve it through new

https://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/monitor/cannons.html
The Monitor's Cannons. The. Monitor's. Cannons. The Monitor had two cannons that could fire solid shots weighing 140 pounds. These cannons helped the Monitor persevere over the CSS Virginia during the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862. The cannons were recovered in 2002 and are currently undergoing conservation at The Mariners' Museum in Virginia.

https://naval-encyclopedia.com/industrial-era/secession-war/uss-monitor.php
USS_Monitor_James_River_1862 Monitor's turret was 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter, 9 ft (2.7 m) high. She barely accomodated the two Dahlgren cannons, which practically hit the other side after recoil. The walls were constructed of 8 inches (20 cm) of armor but reached 11 inches (290 mm) at the front, around the gun ports.

https://www.nps.gov/people/john-a-dahlgren.htm
Father of American naval ordnance. Union admiral during Civil War. John A. Dahlgren was born in Philadelphia in 1809 and joined the Navy as a midshipman in 1826. After many years at sea with the coast survey, he was assigned in 1847 to the Navy's Ordnance Bureau in Washington, D.C. He was best known for developing a series of heavy cast-iron

https://cimsec.org/the-life-and-legacy-of-admiral-john-dahlgren/
The Navy has said that nearly 350,000 rounds were fired at Dahlgren between 1918 and 2007, averaging 3,800 rounds fired per year. A view of the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division's gun line in June 1989, where all gun barrels bound for service aboard U.S. Navy ships are tested.

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/seeking-references-for-dahlgren-half-charges-myth.161150/
Multiple websites have had some variation of three things: 1) A Dahlgren gun exploding in testing somewhere between 1860 and 1861 causing half-charges to be implemented 2) This restriction being repealed in 1864 3) The Commander of USS Monitor believing that full charges would have allowed Monitor to sink the Virginia Thus far, however, I have been unable to find any sources for this

http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/residents-visitors/the-generals-and-admirals/generals-admirals-john-dahlgren-1809-1870/
The Generals and Admirals: John Dahlgren (1809-1870) Navy ordinance expert and officer in charge of Washington Navy Yard, which President Lincoln frequently visited, John Dahlgren also invented the Dahlgren cannon. He chafed at shore duty and longed to be at sea; finally, in 1864 he was appointed to command the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/uss-monitor-uses-full-powder-loads-at-the-battle-of-hampton-roads.517560/
No, they used the full 15lb powder charge that was authorised at the time the battle took place.Between March and May 1862 Dahlgren put 120 rounds through a new 11in gun to test its resilience, and in July 1862 he issued a circular authorising 20lb charges for distant firing (as you see in the updated ordnance instructions), and allowing the use of 25lbs of powder "not exceeding 50 fires per

https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldOfWarships/comments/9zqyy9/history_one_of_two_11inch_280mm_smoothbore/
What is cool about this is that USS Monitor contributed significantly to naval warfare development. After ferocious engagement with USS Virginia (so called "duel of the ironclads") it turned out both ships received relatively minor damage. Further analysis of the damage led to three very important discoveries.

https://adamsmith.wordpress.com/2024/05/14/drachinifel-uss-monitor-john-dahlgren-and-the-half-charge-myth/
Drachinifel: USS Monitor | John Dahlgren and the Half Charge Myth | The Inquiring Mind. Drachinifel: USS Monitor | John Dahlgren and the Half Charge Myth. 14/05/2024. tags: American Civil War, Drachinifel, Hampton Roads, USS Monitor.