The USS Shiloh was a single-turreted, twin-screw monitor built for the United States Navy during the Civil War era. Its construction was initiated after the contract was awarded on June 24, 1863, to George C. Bestor of Peoria, Illinois, with the keel laid later that year at Charles W. McCordat’s yard in St. Louis, Missouri. As a monitor, Shiloh featured a low-profile, heavily armored design characteristic of Civil War-era ironclads, intended for coastal and riverine operations. However, the vessel’s construction was marred by design issues stemming from the revision of the original plans. The initial design by John Ericsson was altered by Chief Engineer Alban C. Stimers following the failed 1863 bombardment of Fort Sumter. Due to poor oversight and flawed modifications, Stimers’ revisions failed to account for the added armor, resulting in excessive stress on the wooden hull frames and a dangerously low freeboard of only 3 inches (76 mm). This flaw rendered the vessel unseaworthy, prompting Ericsson to be called in to rectify the situation by raising the hulls of the monitors under construction. For Shiloh specifically, the Navy ordered her deck raised to improve freeboard on June 25, 1864. Despite these efforts, Shiloh’s construction was further delayed, and after the end of the Civil War, work was suspended on June 17, 1865. The ship was finally launched on July 14, 1865, after an unsuccessful attempt to slide her off the ways on July 3. She saw no active service and was laid up at Mound City, Illinois, in 1866. The vessel was renamed USS Iris on June 15, 1869, and later moved to New Orleans, where she was laid up again. Although commissioned on September 17, 1874, she did not see significant service and was decommissioned on October 5, 1874. The USS Iris was sold later that year, marking the end of her brief and uneventful naval career.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.