United States Ram Fleet

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The United States Ram Fleet ( Aries ships of the United States) was a small group of Ironclad -Kriegsschiffen on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War .

In March 1862 the US Army authorized the well-known civil engineer Charles Ellet Jr. to build a fleet of steam rams for use on the Western Rivers. Ellet converted various high-performance river tugs into ramming ships by massively strengthening the hull for this purpose. The structure and the boilers had little armor, and the ships originally received no artillery.

With the rank of Colonel , Ellet led his Aries on June 6, 1862 at the Battle of Memphis , where they made a significant contribution to the Union's victory over the Confederate River Defense Fleet . Colonel Ellet died a few days after the battle of a gunshot wound he sustained in battle.

Alfred Washington Ellet , his younger brother, took command of the Aries, and they were prominent combatants in the operations at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and downstream until next year . Alfred Ellet's fleet was technically and operationally part of the Army - and this also after the transfer to the Western Gunboat Flotilla (which was part of the Navy ), and the rammers operated largely independently of the command of the naval forces.

With the demise of the Confederate fleet, the Aries no longer had to sink enemy vessels, and Ellet's fleet was used for amphibious missions in the Mississippi Marine Brigade. In August 1864, Alfred Ellet's ship group was disbanded.

The Confederates also used ramships in the war against the Union.

The US Ram Fleet owned the following ships:

• USS Lancaster
• USS Monarch
• USS Queen of the West
• USS Switzerland
• USS Lioness
• USS Mingo
• USS Samson
• USS Fulton
• USS TD Horner

USS Switzerland

Built in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854 as a 413-ton side-wheel tug, it was converted into a pile driver from March to May 1862. She played a distant role in the Battle of Memphis, Tennessee, on June 6, 1862. She was later used in operations on the Yazoo River and against Vicksburg .

On March 25, 1863, it was badly damaged during the passage of the Vicksburg Fortifications, and six days later it was still able to pass the fortresses of Grand Gulf, Mississippi. The ship was sold in October 1865 and served as the trading ship "Switzerland" until around 1870.