The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1862-03-21
Capt Ericsson Describes the Working of
the IS MOnitOr.''

At meeting of the Chamber of Commerce
of New York on Wednesday, Capt Ericsson
the inventor Of the steam floating battery
Monitor made speech descriptive of the
mode Of operating it, which we give below.
He first reviewed the statements made in
Capt Sinners letter to him, explain
ing that the shield therein mentioned is an
extra plate Of two inch thick iron placed on
the fighting side of the tower of the Monitor.
intended principally to deaden the sound Of
the balls that might strike it, the sound of
the concussion being expected to be such as
would knock down the men working the
guns, if not careful in obeying suggested Or
ders. By referring to Capt Sinners account,
it will be seen that three men, among them
himself, were thus Frustrated. On this sub
ject Capt Ericsson rays:
"Before the Monitor left l charged the Of.
ticer particularly to tell the men not to be
frightened. told him to tell the men. le,
every man 60 down on his knees, and dom,
be alarmed when the rebel shot strikes you
because it won't hurt you. They all put the
question to him, Won't the shot go through !?
No. says he it will stay out Then We
don't care they said. But for this precau-
ton there would have been great consterna.
ton when the turret was struck. You may
estimate the shock when shot of 200 pounds
weight moving at the rate of 1000 feet in a
second, strikes within a foot Of man.
head.
proposed to the captain to let the sailing
master turn the turret. On one side of the
turret there is telescope, reflector, the i'm.
age being bent by a prism. This sailing,
master, who has nothing to do on the Moni'
tor, l proposed should be stationed there
He not only looked through tie telescope
but BY means of small wheel he turned the
turret Just exactly where he liked. He did
that to admiration, pointing it exactly on the
enemy. AS the Monitor went round th,
turret kept turning tit 10 doubt as,onished
Capt Buchanan so that wherever the Moni
tor was, in whatever position ii was placed
the two bulldogs kept looking at him all the
time.
The men were new: their passage had
been very rough, and the master had to put
his vessel right under the heaviest guns tha,
are ever worked on ship-buard. 1t is eviden,
that but for the presence of master MIND
have been achieved. Capt Worden, nc
doubt, acquitted himself in the most master
Iy manner. But everything was quite new.
He felt quite nervous before he went or
board. The fact that the bulwark of the
vessel was but one foot above the water-line
was enough to make him so. When | was
before the Naval Committee, the grand ob
lection was that in sea way the vessel would
not work. gave it as my opinion that il
would prove the most easy working in sea
way, and it is an excellent sea boat The
men are supplied with fresh air. though there
is no opening except through the turret, by
means of blowers worked by the engines, and
they are perfectly comfortable. They can re
main on the top Of the turret in the sea way
it is sixty-four feet in ircumierence-qui,e /;
promenade. Though the deck is but foo,
above the water-line, the top of the turret is
nine feet above; and here is the important
point, that this vessel is in the sea way per
haps the safest vessel ever built. 1t take.
10000 pounds to bring her down. There
can be no danger of her swamping. 1t is
very much ike bottle with cork in it.
In relation to the point. whether the Mon
itor is capable of taking care of the Merri
mac, let me say that she would have sunl
the Merrimac but for the fact of her hayias
fired too high. If they had kept off at dis
tance of 200 yards, and held the gun exac,l.
level, 1.-The shot would have gone clear through
But Mr. Sinners had the guns elevated a lit
tie, and the roof of the Merrimac is so stron;
that the balls rebounded. Next time the,
encounter the Merrimac they will leave th'
guns level, and they wont mind if the bal
strikes the water, because the ricochet vii
take it where they want it. The next tim
they 60 out. l predict the :hird round vii
sink the Merrimac. There is another grea
point. They had 80 wrought-iron sho
which were not used. Capt Dahlgren issue,
peremptory orders that they should not b
used, and they obeyed those orders. Now
wrcught-iron shot is one thing. and a cast
iron shot is another. A wrought-iron she
cannot break. The side armor of the Mel
rimac is insufficient to resist it. The channe
is very narrow, and the Merrimac must fo
low it. But the Monitor can 60 anywher
ard take the very best position.
A Member-How often can they fire.
Mr. Ericsson--In about one minute and
half. 1t is often said one gun would be SUI
fcient, but it is lot so. by having two gun
YOU have time for one to cool. You may de
pend upon it if the Merrimac comes out {
gain she will be sunk.
A Member-I would like to ask Capt El
lesson whether his battery could not be eret
ted on various points in our harbor for ii
defense.
Mr. Ericsson-l imagine that the best kin