This model of the USS Lexington was built as a sidewheel steamerat Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1861 and was purchased by the War Department and converted into a gunboat. She was 177 Ft long and 36 ft beam. She had 4 8” smoothbore guns and 2 32 Pdr guns. She could make about 7kts
The USS Lexington was a gunboat, operated by the navy and joined the army’s Western Flotilla at Cairo, Illinois, 12 August 1861. With Tyler, she engaged Confederate gunboat Jackson and southern shore batteries at Hickman and Columbus, Kentucky. On 6 September, the two gunboats spearheaded General Ulysses S. Grant’s drive to seize strategic Paducah and Smithland, Kentucky