The Chicago Post states that, in addition to the iron clad gunboats of Commodore Foote’s flotilla, there have been for some time in the course of building a fleet of eight steam rams, to be added to the Mississippi fleet. Six of them are on the stocks at Pittsburg, the others at St. Louis. They were formerly used as tow boats and are the best and strongest craft on the river. The hulls and machinery are nearly new. They are to be overhauled and strengthened, the hulls by additional bulkheads and solid beams of immense strength. The bows will be rendered almost a solid mass of timber and iron and provided with a projecting ram, which will demolish anything with which it may come in contact. Two or three of these formidable war vessels are already launched, and nearly ready for service. What armament they are to carry is not stated, but their speed and strength will render them more than a match for any of the fabulous rams we hear of from Memphis and New Orleans.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862 p. 1
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