Gunboats to Fast Attack. Part-Two.

From the American Civil War 1861-65.

The gunboat in its own right was developed during the American civil war in the deep south, there was a serious need to control the rivers of the region on both the Confederate and Union sides. 

Many conventional ships were re-designed as low flats known as Monitors or Iron Clads and these where armoured with up to 7 cannons per vessel.

In fact any boat with any type of gun could be called a 'Gunboat? The United States despite being very successful with seagoing boats in World War-II (1940-45) had to reinvent in reverse during the Vietnam wars 1965-75. 

This saw the introduction of a selection of machine guns and small cannons of various calibres, because these where found to be more effective than the standard 40mm cannons used on sea going boats.