fire a shell up to a range of at +5° elevation. The 150-pounder Parrot rifle weighed and fired eight-inch shells that weighed . Roanoke was also fitted with an ax-shaped ram. It was formed from two 4.5-inch plates that projected past her bow and presumably was the height of a single plate, . Ironclad service The ship was accepted by the Navy on 16 April 1863 although she was not recommissioned until 29 June, the first warship with more than two turrets in history. Ignoring pressure by local politicians to keep Roanoke in New York, the Navy ordered her to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to join the blockading squadron there. On the voyage south, the ship reached a maximum speed of and averaged . Captain Benjamin F. Sands reported that the ship's roll was so great that it would "preclude the possibility of fighting her guns at sea, and I was obliged to secure them with pieces of timber to prevent them fetching away". Roanoke was assigned as harbor defense ship at Hampton Roads where she remained through the end of the war. On 14 July, Sands test-fired his guns for the first time and both of the 15-inch Dahlgrens and one 150-pounder Parrott rifle dismounted themselves by their violent recoil. Her rear turret required nearly 5 minutes to make a full rotation. Captain Guert Gansevoort replaced Sands in command of the ship later in 1863. He was succeeded by Captain Augustus Kilty. Roanoke arrived back in New York on 27 April 1865. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 20 June at New York Navy Yard. The ship's only postwar service was as ceremonial flagship of Vice Admiral Stephen Rowan, the Port Admiral at New York. She was recommissioned on 13 January 1874 and hosted a delegation from the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs on 11 August. Roanoke was reduced to reserve again on 12 June 1875; an assessment of her condition in 1876 noted that "this ship requires rebuilding with iron frame and plating". On 5 August 1882, the ship was struck from the Navy List and subsequently sold for scrap on 27 September 1883. See also List of steam frigates of the United States Navy Bibliography of early American naval history Union Navy Notes References External links Images of USS Roanoke Monitors of the United States Navy Ironclad warships of the Union Navy Ships built in Portsmouth,