SHIPS CARRYING the name “monitor” invariably remind people of the famous ironclad, the USS Monitor, which dueled the CSS Virginia (formerly the Merrimack) off the coast of Virginia in 1862. That pivotal Civil War battle ended a brief period of Confederate supremacy on the high seas. But more than paving the way for Union victories, the battle of the Monitor vs. Merrimack showed that iron vessels — ponderous and slow, but difficult to spot and even harder to sink — could be militarily significant. The development of iron ships opened a new era of armored Naval warfare, an era that continues to this day.

In fact, the monitor-class ships, which took their name from the Civil War original, quickly evolved into new hybrid steel monitors, and eventually, the modern day battleship.

Not fast, but well armed

The USS Monterey was one of the second generation of monitors — mastless, steam powered, low in the water and with ominous gun turrets on deck.

Completed in 1893, the USS Monterey had the honor of being the first ship in the United States’ new “steel navy.” Weighing 4,084 tons, it had a service speed of 13.6 knots and cost more than $2 million.

The USS Monterey was built with the mission of patrolling the western coast of the United States. Its low profile meant there was less of the ship to cover with armor, while presenting a high degree of concealment. In severe storms, the water washing over the monitor’s decks actually served to stabilize the ship.

While monitor-class ships were not known for their speed or seaworthiness, the USS Monterey would sail the oceans on many important missions in her 29 years of service.

A 7,000-mile crossing

Built in the Union Iron Works in Oakland, the USS Monterey was commissioned in San Francisco in February 1893. The ship’s first mission was to steam up and down the coast, from California to Washington. With the United States just beginning to be recognized as a world power, in 1895 the vessel took a grand tour of Mexico, Panama and even Peru.

The outbreak of war would bring the USS Monterey to its greatest calling. The loss of the USS Maine on February 15, 1898, in Havana harbor brought the United States into war with Spain. The USS Monterey soon got its orders to sail from San Diego to the Philippines to reinforce the Asiatic Squadron under the command of Commodore George Dewey.

But many feared the Monterey would not be able to make the 7,000-mile crossing of the Pacific Ocean. One Senator even wrote Navy Secretary Teddy Roosevelt that, “we are not going to lug that monitor across the Pacific for the fun of lugging her back again.”

Nevertheless, the USS Monterey’s gun power was a welcome addition to the American flotilla. On August 13, 1898, Dewey’s ships poised off the Manila harbor, ready for the assault. The mere threat of the firepower on the horizon was sufficient to cause the Spanish to surrender, giving control of the Philippines to the United States. However, another war quickly broke out, with the Philippines seeking independence, and the USS Monterey remained on patrol. In September 1899 her large guns destroyed a large military emplacement at Subic Bay. Even while the Philippine War continued, in 1900 the USS Monterey cruised into Hong Kong, China, where she was fitted with new boilers. Later, she was based at Shanghai, and a diplomatic mission took her up the Nanjing River in 1902. Upon return to the United States, the ship was assigned to ports on the East Coast.

The USS Monterey was decommissioned in December 1904, only to be recommissioned for service during WWI as a submarine tender. The well decorated ship was finally retired at Pearl Harbor in 1921. Her last voyage was back to her birth port, Oakland, where she was scrapped. The monitors had become obsolete, even while they ushered in the age of the battleship.

The modern U.S. Navy has a guided missile cruiser once again called the USS Monterey. But the historic ship that bore the name has been brought back to life in a newly restored photographic image. Steve Crandell, of Historic Fine Art, Placerville has taken images set on glass plates by an unknown photographer a century ago into the digital age.

First, the original glass plates were scanned into digital format. Then, each image underwent dozens of hours of pixel-by-pixel restoration, taking into a sharp and lasting vision of a ship and crew that played such a vital role in American naval history. These historic photographs from Steve Crandell’s personal collection have never before been published. Restored prints of the USS Monterey, as well as other historic maritime photographs, are available in Giclee print format from Steve Crandell’s Historic Fine Art, Placerville, California (530 621-1849).

George Sabato received his BA and MA from Stanford University. A Fulbright Scholar and history teacher for 30 years at Edwin Markham Middle School, he is also the Assistant Editor of the Social Studies Review. A well known artist, his work can be seen at http://geocities.com/2artists@sbcglobal.net/