Series VII: Naval Scenes and Sites

Series VII includes a mammoth plate photograph of the U.S. Iron Clad Ram, Dictator, which was designed by John Ericcson and built at the Delamater Iron Works in New York. The monitor-class boat was 320 feet long with two guns and a ram at both ends. Sent to the assault on Fort Fisher, the boat had mechanical problems and returned to port. Eventually decommissioned, the Dictator was sold for scrap in 1883.