USS Agamenticus was a of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, named after Mount Agamenticus

Agamenticus

The Mount Agamenticus region covers nearly 30,000 acres in the southern Maine towns of Eliot, Ogunquit, South Berwick, Wells and York. It is now a park reservation which provides habitat for wildlife and a venue for recreation....

 in York County, Maine

York County, Maine

York County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, the population was 197,131. Its county seat is Alfred.Founded in 1636, it is the oldest county in Maine and one of the oldest in the United States....

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The twin-screw, double-turreted ironclad monitor was laid down sometime in 1862 at Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine

Kittery, Maine

Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...

 and launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 19 March 1863. Since operational experience with the monitors during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 had shown the necessity for better ship-control and navigational facilities, Agamenticus underwent alterations in the first few months of 1864, notably the addition of a "hurricane deck" that extended between the two turrets and over the machinery spaces amidships.

Service history

Commissioned on 5 May 1864 at Portsmouth, Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 C. H. Cushman in command, Agamenticus operated off the northeast coast of the United States, from Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 to Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, until decommissioned at the Boston Navy Yard

Boston Navy Yard

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...

 on 30 September 1865. She remained laid-up for nearly five years and, during that time, on 15 June 1869, was renamed Terror.

She reentered commissioned service in late May 1870. The monitor operated in the western Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 until June 1872, when she was again laid up, this time at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Two years later, she was broken up and her name used in building a new monitor, which was finally commissioned more than two decades later as USS Terror

USS Terror (BM-4)

USS Terror — the totally rebuilt version of the earlier monitor , which had shared the Terror's name — was an iron-hulled, twin-screw, double-turreted monitor of the , laid down in 1874 at Philadelphia by William Cramp and Sons. Her construction progressed over the next three years until suspended...

.