River monitor
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River monitors were the strongest class of riverine warships. The name originally came from the USS Monitor (they appeared first during the American Civil War and at that time were distinguished by having revolving turrets), the last American river monitors were used during the Vietnam War by brown water flotillas.
River monitors were used on inland waterways -- rivers and lakes. Usually they had a shallow draft which was necessary for them to be able to operate, but their displacement, size and draft varied depended on where they were used. Most river monitors were lightly armoured though this varied and some carried more armour. They carried a mix of gun sizes from 3 inch (75 mm) – 6 inch (152 mm) and machine guns. The type of vessel also overlaps with the river gunboat.
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[edit] Asia
On Asian rivers, first of all Amur, USSR and Japan used large river monitors, up to 1,000 tons displacement, armed with 130 mm guns. During the Vietnam War, the United States used smaller river gunboats called monitors on the Mekong River.
[edit] Europe
On the Danube, river monitors were employed during World War I by Austro-Hungary, then by Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia (approximately 500 tons displacement). Smaller monitors (70-100 ton displacement) were used by Poland in 1939 and by the Soviet Union in 1941 on the Pripyat River.
[edit] United States
River monitors were used during the American Civil War, playing an important role in the Mississippi River Campaigns. They also played a role in the Battle of Mobile Bay. The American Civil War river monitors were very large, weighing up to 1,300 tons. River monitors used by the US Navy's brown water flotilla during the Vietnam War, were converted WWII landing craft that were armored and mounted with a 40mm cannon in a turret near the bow.
