The U.S.S. Weehawken, a 1335 ton Passaic class monitor was built in Jersey City, New Jersey and was commissioned in January 1863. While in route to Port Royal, South Carolina, she encountered winter storm conditions and proved that ships of her kind could successfully handle such weather. In February of 1863, she joined the South Atlantic Blockade to participate in combat operations along the Atlantic coast.

                    On April 7, 1863, Weehawken led a force of  new ironclads during an attack on Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter was the guardian to the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The attack on Fort Sumter showed the Union navy some the ironclad's limitations. The battle ended after several ironclads were damaged. The Weehawken was struck by over fifty enemy cannon projectiles and was shaken by an explosion of a nearby mine. When repairs on Weehawken were complete, she was to assigned to Georgia waters where, on June 17, 1863, she captured the Confederate ironclad Atlanta.

                    After this victory, which caused her to receive great attention, Weehawken was reassigned back to the Charleston area where she participated in regular bombardments in the summer of 1863. The bombardments assisted greatly in the capture of Fort Wagner on Morris Island and which also help reduce Fort Sumter to rubble. But bad luck also struck Weehawken during these attacks. Weehawken was grounded and exposed to enemy fire. But with the assistance of other Union monitors she was refloated on the following day. 

                             After the second set of repairs, Weehawken was back with the Charleston blockade in early October (1863). But while moored off Morris Island in rising seas on December 6, 1863, she began taking on water. The only problems were she had a faulty trim debris in her bilges. The influx overwhelmed the ship's pumps and the ship sank rapidly. Thirty of  Weehawken's officers died in the sinking.