USS Dictator was a single-turreted ironclad monitor. Originally to be named the Protector, the Navy Department preferred a more aggressive name. On 1 April 1862, John Ericsson proposed to Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Gustavus Fox, Dictator "a name which I respectfully request for the new Ocean Monarch." Dictator was launched 26 December 1863 by Delamater Iron Works, New York, NY, under contract with John Ericsson; and commissioned 11 November 1864, Commander J. Rodgers in command.