Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-12-20
OBJ Mltnp5is ARReaL.
ATERRIEGE ENGINE OF DEsTRUC.
TERN,
ZEc Ericsson Battery 10 br Completed By
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From ;he New York Journal OF Commerce
The construction of the Ericsson battery fur
nishes a characteristic instance of American en-
ergy and dispatch. The contract for the work
was signed on the 18th Of October last; the work
itself was commenced on the Doth of the same
month; and there is now 10 doubt that the bat
terry viii be finished on OF before the 18th Of Jan
uaTy, 1862, within the specified period. About
1900 skillful mechanics are employed on various
portions of the structure and its equipments,
and the labor is pushed both night and day.
The central part of the hull and deck is nearly
completed, az the Continental iron works, Green
point. The principal engines and boilers and
screws are in an advanced state, at the Delama-
ter iron works, foot of Thirteenth STREET, n. X
The Novelty works are rapidly giving shape to
the death-dealing turret. Messrs. Clute Broth
ers, OF Schenectady, viii not be behind with
the tGnet engines and gun-carriages. Three
large rolling mills in this city are employing all
then available force in the production OF iron
plates.
Captain Ericsson invests ais undertaking with
no mystery. The public are free to know all
about the plan, the Dimensions the armament,
and the most minute peculIarities Of his unique
invention. The following description may CON
vey some idea OF Il;
The battery rests upon two vessels, an upper
one and a lower one. The upper is built Of iron,
one EUnUIeQ ana SENtUiN-lJuI lctL iOl2F ibltg
one feet four inches wide, aud five feet deep, with
a dgaught of three to six inches, leaving only
eighteen inches of the sides exposed above the
water iire. The sides are covered with e white
oak bulwaTk, thirty inches thick, but receive
their principal protection from an agmor OF
rolled plate iron, six inches thick The deck IS
made Of oak beams, ten inches thick, covered
with plank eight inches thick and a one-lnch
iron plate. The upper vessel Is hat-b0ttomed'
-. ..A a#.-n AEn
lower vessel, which IS entirely submerged, IS
one hundred and twenty four feet long, thirty
four feet wide, and SIX feet six inches deep. IL
contains the working machinery, the rudder and
the anchor, housed away beyond reach OF the
cnemy's shot. Upon the deck Of the upper
vessel, and the only conspicuous object on this
Glow raking," and terrible craft, is the turret,
twenty feet in diameter, nine feet high, and com
posed Of nine one-iBch iron plates, Tapped over
each other and fastened with thousands of bolts.
A shellproOf roof, six inches thick, covers the
tdrret, which is entered through hatchways from
above. The total weight of the turfet is one
hundred and twenty tuns.
The armament consists of two cOlumbIads,
(Which are preferable to rife guns at short
ranges) each carrying a ball OF one hundred
and eighty pounds, and working through circu-
Tar port holes three feet above the deck. The
Carriages are made of wrought iron, and move
on forged iron slides. The =uTet can be turned
at pleasure BY q spurwheel and gearing driven
by a double-cylnder engine, and controlled by
a lever in tine turret. By this contrivance the
guns can be aimed, almost instantly, at any
point of the horizon. The cylinders for the
man engine are forty inches in diameter, with a
Diston stroke Of twenty-five inches. Blowers
ts- the boiler and for ventilation are worked by
small separate engines. The smoke Is passed
OF through gratings in the deck. The entire
cost of the battery will be S275,OO0. Guns and
men to work them wiz be furnished by the
government.
Among the requirements Of the contract IS
one that the battery shall have a speed Of not
less than eight miles an hour. Captain Ericsson
believes that this rate is easily atIainable. There
Is another " remarkable provision, that the bat
tery shall be tested at the shortest ranges before
the eneny's guns. The inventor IS not the least
alarmed at this prospective ordeal 1t the nine
inch platings on the turet ethe only exposed
part) DO not prove strong enough, three more
inch plates can be put on without materially
affecting the draught or the safety Of the battery
Bnt If Is believed nine inches viii be a sufficient
thickness. The best practicable thickness can
Ozly be ascertained by actual experiment. That
four and a half inches (the thickness OF plates
on tue La Gloire and Wauior) are not enough,
was satisfactorily proved by Captain Ericsson,
in experiments conducted by hin many years
ago.
The test TO which The battery viii be subjected,
viii probably kettle all that is unknown about
the resisting power OF iron plates. lmmedla5ely
rpon the completion Of the battery, it viii be
taken TO a position il front of some Of the enc
my's accessible batieries-the most formidable
uTefened-and viii pitch in " at ranges from
1860 to zoe yards, AMI as much less than that
as viii be necessary 10 silence the rebel guns
Should it not prove potent enough at the first
4-ial-about which no apprehension need be
fej;--the additional plates can be attached IN q
very short time, and the success Of the battery,
IN the close engagements and under the heaviest
fre he nIaeed beyond any reasonable doubt
The practical results Of this bold and original
irventien viii &c looked for with great interest
by military and SCIENTIFIC men in this country
and Europe.