The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-08-23

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CAno, Asg. ls.
With this I send you view Of tie new Fed
join our Eisissip1i laesiis, q vlleh % i 70
be the nag ship n every pseticulss Of war
ship che q vaslly ths superior ef IL old lumber.
log Bsntop, which has hitherto borne the Com
modore's pennant. In the matter Of strength.
the Benton - compared with the Passport h
out mere egg.shelI, while the lstter will b.
fast sailer and powerful ram, besides being
larger and more eonmodious ship. Indeed, aside
from the Monitor, doubt if there 10 vessel
aAoat Of equal strength and invulnsra>ility with
the Passport. There certainly u no hat 10 our
navy that has been built with % much care-
There 10 no contract work upon her. Every
timber has been sawed and every nail driven By
day's work, under the immediate Supervision Of
Fleet Captain Pinnock. Not sheet of iron, nor
. rivet, nor . piece Of timber has entered into
her construction that WAS not Arst examined
and approved. And, added to all, she hes grown
from mere huh into powerful vessel Of war
without elaborate drawings and specidtiona-
A few rough general ideas were submitted BY
Lieut. Phelps ut the outset, the spirit Of which
Vas caught by Capt. Pinuock, to which all de-
tails have been inside to harmonic, q bis own
intimate acquaintance with the necessities of
such ship suggested.
A. the Passport il now . finished vessel, some
general account Of her may not be amiss, though
any particular description would not, under tie
circumstances, be permissible.
The hull Of this vessel Was one Of the trophies
secured BY Lieut. Commanding Phelps, on the
occasion Of his brilliant reconnaissance up the
Tennessee River to Florence in February last.
Immediately after the capture of Fort Henry
She was found ct the village Of Passport, near
the southern boundary Of Tennessee, where the
rebels we're busily engaged in Transforming her
into . gunboat. For this purpose her boilers
we're being lowered into her hold, bulkhsad
had been built entirely around the interior Of
the hull, some four or Eve feet within the outer
wall, and appearances indicated that she was 70
finished after the general plan of the Sumptsr.
Price, aud other Of their gunboatA A large
amount Of prepared lumber was piled upon and
near her, ready for nee, and her engines we're
already aboard. In this condition she was towed
down 70 Paducah, where she remained till the
middle Of March, snds,was then taken to The
government shipyard ct Mound City, near
Cairo, and taken oat Of water BY The marine
railway at that place, aud work Immediately
commenced in finishing her up. The plan upoa
which she had been commenced was abandoned.
and . new one, designed BY Lieut.. Phslpa
adopted. This plan increased her length, and
somewhat changed her model, giving 70 her
greater speed and less draught Of water, and, in
the finishing Of her upper works, greater
strength. Her dimensions, - nov completed,
are: '2' -. -
Length, $50 feet; ? ~ ~.
Breadth on deck, 40 feet; ia.
Depth of hold, 81 feet.
s, She is driven BY two powerful side-vhesIs,
each twenty.fees feet in diameter, With twelve
feet buckets. -
Her hull is ofimmense strength, having walls
Of heavy gum timber Of great thickness, SUM-
encased with heavy plate iron extending four
feet below the water line. The exact measure
ments of her thickness and Of the thickness Of
her armor are not permitted to be published,
for very obvious reasons. ..,. e
She is furnished with sharp prov, rising
five feet above the water line, and having an i'm.
mense solid wroughiron ram, weighing $500
pounds, SO shaped that, in coming in contact
with any opposing body, it will hit first directly
at the watsr.line, which is also the thickess Dor.
ton Of theram. The ram sets against solid
timbers, Crossed and bolted together into one
compact mass, extending back thirty. -four feet
The force of blow struck by such huge mass
of iron and timber can scarcely be estimated.
blow would be irresistible. Running at a rate
of ten miles per hour, it would penetrate and
pulverize . solid rock. ~. !, 81 3,4q b, asa.
This powerful ram is further strengthened by
by three fore and aft bulkheads, extending tho
length Of the vessel These are again braced
BY cross bulkheads, water tight, by which her
hull is divided into twenty-eight Compartments.
Thus, in addition to the strength impaired, her
own side may be stove in by ram, or she may
be pierced and even riddledn by cannon shot,
and still she would float. The illing of any
two or three OF these compartments would BY
no means cause her to sidk. Indeed, she can
scarcely be sunk unless literally blown up frst.
Her main deck is open forty feet back from .
the front and thirty.feet forward from the stern.
From these points the casemates inclosing the
gundeck commence. These classmates, Like
those on the old gunboats,i rise at an angle of
As degrees With the deck and eight feet high
They are Of heavy gum timber, and plated en-
titely around With iron. She is pierced for
eight guns-two each side and end. asBoB aa
The boilers are four in number, thirty-feet
each in length and forty-two inches in diameter
They are placed ten inches clear below the w.
Ter line, and are entirely surrounded BY coal.
bunkers, % that the possibility Of cannon.ban
reaching them does not exist. $40 10 aifo4
She has two high pressure engines, having
twenty six inch cylinders each, and eight feet
stroke. : They stand on the main deck, but ore
90 situated as TO, be secure from chance shots.
She is also furnished with . pumping engine
and auxiliary steam apparatus for repelling
boasders. sd q siI,rg.sT ira siI5s.!sel
. Her pilot house is,s, six sided cone, its sides
having an angle OF forty Ave degrees with the
main deck. They are Of heavy timber, aad Sc
curely plated with iron. asasw8t qiAis5 q ID
All her decks, wherever exposed, srs covered
with three quarter inch iron, besides being strong
10 timber and pIanking themselves. The wheel
houses are covered with iron on the sides to .
line even with the hurricane deck, and on tho
ends are protected from fore and aft shots by
extra iron clad classmates, having the same in-s
clinaton as the sides Of tho vessel. - s5s a1} .
The quarters for officers and men are on the
main deck. Att Of the wheel houses the in
closed portion of this deck ID divided into rooms
for the several officers messes. The crew win
swing their hammocks on the gun dsck, forward
of the wheels. Two ranges Of apartments are
built on the hurricane deck, between the wheel
houses, one on eiteer aide of the boat, which