Figure 1: Photograph of USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) taken circa 1907, probably off Norfolk, Virginia. Note four-masted schooners in the background. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: The first of USS Miantonomoh's (BM-5) 10-inch guns is placed into position, circa 1890. Photo # det 4a14671 by The Detriot Publishing Company, now in the archives of the Library of Congress as LC-D4-20894. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: Mounting USS Miantonomah's (BM-5) 10 inch guns, circa 1890. Photo # det 4a14672 by The Detriot Publishing Company, now in the archives of the Library of Congress as LC-D4-20895. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: Mounting the USS Miantonomoh's (BM-5) 10 inch guns, circa 1890. Photo # det 4a14673 by The Detroit Publishing Company, now in the archives of the Library of Congress as LC-D4-20896. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Miantonomoh's (BM-5) forward 10-inch gun turret. Photo # det 4a14439 by The Detriot Publishing Company, now in the archives of the Library of Congress as LC-D4-20623. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) in an undated photo, possibly off Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Courtesy of PAHRC (Philadelphia Archdiocese Historical Research Center, Colin P. Varga, Photography Curato). Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: Bow on view of the USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) in an undated photograph. Photo from National Archives & Record Administration (NARA), Record Group 19-N, Box 33. Courtesy of Dan Treadwell. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: USS Miantonomoh (BM-5), circa 1895. US Navy photograph by Hudson & Kearns, courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) drying laundry at the time of the Spanish-American War, 1898. Photo printed on a stereograph card, photographed and published by B.W. Kilburn, Littleton, New Hampshire. The card, which is entitled "The Monster that made the Spanish Quake at Santiago de Cuba," also bears the name of James M. Davis, who may have been a distributor. Photo No. NH 105787 courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center. Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: Postcard of USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) circa 1906, most likely by Edward H. Mitchell Publishers of San Francisco, California, probably based on a photograph by Enrique Muller. Photograph courtesy of Patricia Mathis. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after a leader of the Narragansett Indians, USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) was a 3,990-ton, iron-hulled, twin-screwed, double-turreted monitor that was laid down by John Roach & Sons at Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1874. [Note: There is a variation on the spelling of the name of this ship and some sources show it as “Miantonomah.” The official spelling of the ship by the US Navy seems to be Miantonomoh.] The ship was launched on 5 December 1876 and was commissioned in an uncompleted condition on 6 October 1882. Miantonomoh then steamed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to New York City and was decommissioned on 13 March 1883. Funding for monitors in the post-Civil War era was painfully slow and the ship remained under construction from 1883 to 1891. Miantonomoh was finally completed by the New York Navy Yard and was fully commissioned on 27 October 1891. The ship was approximately 263 feet long and 55 feet wide, had a top speed of 10.5 knots, and had a crew of 150 officers and men. As completed, Miantonomoh was armed with four 10-inch guns (two in each turret) and two 6-pounders.
After being commissioned, Miantonomoh patrolled off the east coast of the United States from New York to Charleston, South Carolina. From 1892 to 1895, the monitor supported fleet target practice exercises and was also used as a training ship for the naval militias in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Miantonomoh then was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 20 November 1895.
Miantonomoh was re-commissioned on 10 March 1898, shortly after the sinking of the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor on 15 February 1898. On 25 April 1898, the United States declared war on Spain and Miantonomoh was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, for a final “fitting out” for battle. On 5 May, the monitor joined Rear Admiral William T. Sampson’s fleet, which was assigned to blockade Cuba. Miantonomoh remained on blockade duty until the war ended in August. The ship returned to Charleston on 29 August and went on to Philadelphia on 1 October. Miantonomoh was decommissioned once again at Philadelphia on 8 March 1899.
In 1906, Miantonomoh was loaned to the Maryland Naval Militia as a training ship and was officially re-commissioned on 9 April 1907. However, she returned to Philadelphia on 4 December and was decommissioned for the last time on 21 December 1907. The ship languished at Philadelphia until 17 December 1915, when USS Miantonomoh was designated a target ship. She was struck from the Navy list on 31 December 1915 and what was left of the hulk was sold for scrapping on 26 January 1922.
