| abstract | - The never-completed USS Puritan of the American Civil War underwent the same extent of rebuilding as the four Miantonomoh-class under the direction of Secretary of the Navy George Robeson. The revised design of the "repaired" Puritan called for two turrets, and with her superstructure, tall stack, and military mast, she had the characteristics which identified the monitors built between 1889 and 1903. Because of the level of disrepair on the original Puritan, a new Puritan was built by John Roach & Sons of Chester, Pennsylvania and completed by the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. Officially the Navy records list this action as a repair and redesignation of the original Puritan, not the building of a new vessel even though very few building materials from the original were included in the construction of the second. The new Puritan was launched 6 December 1882 and commissioned on 10 December 1896, with Captain John Russell Bartlett in command. By 1891, she had been equipped with four 12-inch (305 mm) guns in barbette turrets, with a plane of fire ten and a half feet (3.2 m) above the water. The armored belt was 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 m) deep, 14 inches (360 mm) thick amidships, with an armor deck of 2 inches (50 mm); barbettes, 14 inches (360 mm); and inclined turrets, 8 inches (200 mm). The original officer quarters were below deck, but these were given up to be additional crew quarters after new officers quarters were constructed in the superstructure.
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