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The biggest obstacle to the building of United States ironclad warships was the fact that it had already been tried once - and failed. Congress was not interested in wasting money on another "experiment." When Gideon Welles, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, submitted his first report to Congress on July 4, 1861, he stopped short of asking for authorization to build ironclads. He did, however, "recommend the appointment of a proper and competent board to inquire into the matter." Some historians feel he failed to see the urgency of the matter; others feel that Welles was being politically prudent, not asking for what would be refused. A month later, the political scene had changed. The army defeat at Bull Run had signaled that this war would be neither short nor effortless. Rumors were afloat that the Confederates were building an ironclad from the salvaged hull of the U.S.S. Merrimack. There was also concern about European intervention in the war, particularly considering that England and France had ironclads. Congress created the Ironclad Board, which reviewed 20 proposals before approving three for construction:
What the Union did not do was to rush into building improvised ironclads. Historians wonder: Should the Union have followed the Confederate example, and hastily converted one of their many wooden warships into an ironclad? |
