USS Keokuk was one of the first three ironclads authorized for
construction by the Union during the American Civil War. A
relatively-weak vessel, she would sink after receiving battle
damage in South Carolina after nearly two months of service.
Laid down as Moodna, the first ship in the United States Navy
named Keokuk - named after a Sauk Indian chief who opposed the
Black Hawk War - was launched at New York by Charles W. Whitney
6 December 1862; sponsored by Mrs. C. W. Whitney, wife of the
builder; and commissioned March 1863; Commodore Alexander C.
Rhind in command. The experimental ironclad steamer embodied
some unusual concepts: her two stationary, cylindrical gun
towers, each pierced with three gun ports, which often caused
her to be mistaken for a double-turreted monitor; and her armor
of horizontal iron bars alternating with strips of wood. The new
ironclad departed New York 11 March and steamed south to join
the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron for the attack on
Charleston and arrived Newport News 2