The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-07 00:00:00

TILE AMERICAN IRON-CLAD NAVE

However much or little the encounter of the Mer-
rimac and Monitor directly teaches, in America
as well as in England it has stirred both the public
and the Government to action as no mere reasoning
ever could. It may now be convenient to gather
up and review our information respecting the recent
action of the United States Government in refe-
rence to iron-clad ships.
It has been said that the Monitor was the work
of a private citizen, and that it was forced upon the
Government against its ideas and wishes. In truth,
however, as long ago as the special session in July
last, the Secretary of the Navy called the attention
of the Congress to the subject of iron-clad vessels,
and appropriation of 1,500,000 dols. was made for
the purpose of having one or more constructed. On
the 6th of August an advertisement was published
calling for plans. By the 16th of September the
board of three naval officers appointed to examine
and consider the plans, presented their report, and
recommended Captain Ericsson's plan among
others for adoption. The contract for the Monitor
was signed on the 4th of October between the Se•
retary of the Navy and the builders. It provided
for the completion of the vessel by the 4th of
January, i.e., 100 days, and for payment by the de-
partment in the usual way ; and further, that if
the vessel sustained a satisfactory test she was to
be accepted, and thereupon the last 25 per cent. of
the contract price was to be paid. The Monitor
was one of three iron-clad vessels which were un-
dertaken about the same time, a fact which was
stated in the messages of Secretary Welles to' Con-
gress last autumn. That document was published
in England, but the attention of the English press
was mainly directed to certain portions of it calcu-
lated to sustain a factitious excitement, and this
part was generally overlooked. From the follow-
ing passage in the report of the Board of Naval
Officers, of which Commodore J. Smith was chair-
man, it will bo seen that the expectations of the
builders of the Monitor were not romantic. They
said of Capt. Ericsson's design :
This plan of a floating-battery is novel, but seems
to be based upon a calculation which will render the
battery shot and shell proof. We are somewhat
apprehensive that her properties for sea are not such
as a sea-going vessel should possess. But she may
be moved from one place to another on the coast in
smooth rater. We recommend that an experiment
be made with one battery of this description on the
terms proposed, with a guarantee and forfeiture in
lease of failure in any of the properties and points of
the vessel as proposed.
Price 275,000 dols. ; length of vessel, 172 feet ;
breadth of beam, 41 feet; depth of hold, 111 feet;
time, 100 days ; draught of water, 10 feet; dis-
placement, 1,255 tons ; speed per hour, 9 statute
miles.

Various delays occurred in the construction of
the vessel, which was not completed by the contract
term ; she was launched on the 30th instead of on
the 4th of January. The congratulations of the
Navy department in answer to a telegraphic despatCh
announcing the event, concluded with a request to
" hurry her for sea, as the Merrimac is nearly ready
at Norfolk, and we wish to send her there."

Of the iron-clad vessels nearly ready for service,
the next in importance is Stevens's floating battery,
which has been described in detail. This vessel, it
is alleged, will make 19 knots an hour, and throw a
greater weight of metal than anything afloat. It
will, however, take two or three months to finish
her.

The Galena, an iron-clad vessel, built at Mystic,
in Connecticut, and now being finished at Green-
point, New York, will be ready for sea in a fort-
night. She appears, however, to be too lightly
constructed. The Areto York, Times calls her " a
plated egg shell." Another " dark" vessel, which,
being at present without a name, is referred to as
" the formidable vessel now building at the Phila-
delphia Navy-yard," may probably be classed with-
out injustice with the Galena.
The Naugatuck, a small but strong gun-boat, is
a present to the government by Mr. Stevens, and
a miniature of his large floating battery. Her
speed is ten knots an hour. She can carry coal for
twelve days, and her armament is a single one-
hundred-pounder Parrott gun. Like the Monitor
she can be sunk at will nearly to the top of her
deck—thus presenting only a narrow stripe to the
bnemy's shots. It is supposed that, from the small
surface she exposes, she could easily steal up to a
hostile vessel in a dark night and deliver her missile
with effect.

The Adirondack, a wooden frigate, is being plated
with iron.

The foregoing vessels represent the iron-clad navy
of the United States at the date of the action at the
mouth of the James River. It remains to speak of
the subsequent action of Congress.
The bill introduced by Senator Hale, who is
chairman of the Senate's Committee on naval affairs,
is designed to lay the foundation of the new navy
of the United States. It appropriates 13 million
dollars for the building of iron-clud gunboat, three-