Wampanoag-class frigate

The Wampanoag class was a series of wooden-hulled screw frigates built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. The ships were designed to decimate British merchant shipping in the event that the United Kingdom entered the war on the Confederate side. Of the eight ships planned, only five entered service and served brief careers. A combination of engineering, financial, and operational issues limited their practicality and service history even as the class's namesake, USS Wampanoag, was the world's fastest steamship.

Initially described as "commerce destroyers" and cruisers, the ships featured novel steam engines developed by different engineers, though three failed to reach the intended speed of 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h). Redundant at the end of the Civil War, their construction alarmed Britain during the Alabama Claims, prompting the Royal Navy to develop an equivalent vessel. Over time, the class's emphasis on speed over armor foreshadowed the evolution of the battlecruiser.