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Photo #  NH 44389:  Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers, photographed 30 August 1864

Online Library of Selected Images:
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Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers, USN, (1827-1876)

Alban C. Stimers was born in New York in 1827. He entered the Navy as a Third Assistant Engineer in January 1849 and became a Chief Engineer in July 1858. He served in the steam frigate Roanoke during the early months of the Civil War and later in 1861 was assigned to work with John Ericsson on the construction of the ironclad turret ship Monitor. Though not formally a member of Monitor's complement, Stimers took part in her difficult voyage from New York to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and served on board during her historic battle with the Confederate ironclad Virginia on 9 March 1862. Much of the success of these two operations was due to his inspired work, and Chief Engineer Stimers continued an intimate association with the Navy's ironclad shipbuilding program for much of the rest of the Civil War.

In 1862-63, Stimers again worked with Ericsson during the building of the next class of monitor-type ironclads, the Passaic class. He accompanied these ships during early operations against the Confederacy, most notably the 7 April 1863 bombardment of Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and helped repair them after that action. Later in the year he was placed in charge of an ambitious project to construct twenty light-draft monitors for use in shallow inland waters. Unfortunately, the displacement calculations made for these ships were badly done. The resulting Casco class turned out to be useless for their intended role and had to be extensively modified. Stimers had inadvertently demonstrated the inherent difficulty of successfully shepherding complex technological endeavors, something that has bedeviled "project managers" from his time to ours'.

After the Casco class debacle, Stimers returned to the seagoing Navy. At the beginning of 1865, he was Chief Engineer of the steam frigate Wabash. He resigned from the Navy in August 1865 and thereafter worked as a civilian engineer. Alban C. Stimers died in 1876.

This page features all views we have related to Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers, USN.


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Photo #: NH 58852

Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers, USN


Line engraving, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862.
He helped to superintend the construction of USS Monitor in 1861-62 and served in that ship during her maiden voyage from New York to Hampton Roads in early March 1862 and her subsequent battle with CSS Virginia.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 156KB; 550 x 675 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 44389

Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers, USN
(1827-1876)

Portrait photograph by F. Gutekunst, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 30 August 1864.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 47KB; 500 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 45978

USS Monitor (1862)
and
CSS Virginia (1862)

Montage drawing featuring plans of the two ships, portraits of men responsible for building and operating them, and scenes of their histories. It is inscribed: "Dedicated to the Memory of Thomas Fitch Rowland, Builder of the Original Monitor.". Drawn by Charles H. Corbett, circa 1907 or later.
See Photo # NH 45978 (extended caption) for more extensive information.

Courtesy of Charles H. Corbett.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 278KB; 1200 x 825 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 94045-KN (color)

USS Wassuc (1865-1875)

Hand-colored construction drawing of shot lifter fittings for the light-draft monitor's gun turret. This drawing is stamped "Light Draught Monitors General Inspector Office. Sheet No. 79", is dated 20 February 1864 and signed by Alban C. Stimers, General Inspector.
Note that this plan shows the turret outfitted with one XI-inch Dahlgren smoothbore gun (left gun) and one 150-pounder (8-inch) Parrott rifled gun.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 182KB; 1200 x 910 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 31 March 2002
New image added 6 April 2002