Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-09-18
Our Iroa ! lad Fleet---AmerioaA A Eains1 the

oahltenge the WOrlu Ior the naval SUprema-
ey We have already given some details
Of what is being done in the way of iron
elads and made brief mention of Mr.
Webb's tremendous ram which will be
BY far the most foTsidable monster of the
deep ever constructed From 4 detailed
description in sAe New York Times, of our
iron heet We take seme particulars of the
construction of this ram She is over for
~ feet longer than any ship afoat
except the Great Eastern, and TWEEN ty
feet longer than either Of Mr. Ericsson's
two largest vessels. She win measureI7,-
900 tons, being more than the combined
tonnage Of the English ships Duke of We'll
ington and Marlborouh, or Of the Ameri-
can ships the Niagara and Roanoke, four Of
the largest wooden vessels in the world
Her dimensions are length 300 feet
breadth 70 feet, depth p feet,power of en-
gines, 5 700 horses
Her beam, as will be seen, is greater by far,
than that of any other of the irOn-clad
vessels now building in this country or in
Europe None of them are over G5 feet
wide the lie Gioirs or Warrior not being
even as wide as that.
Mr. Webb's vessel will be a steam screw
propeller. The hull will be of wood, and,
will consist Of almost two complete ships,
one TO be built within the other that it
might almost be said that you could COM
pletely destroy the outside vessel with
out inficting particle of injury on the
inside one. In other words, it is a double
vessel-one within the other Besides
the thickness of the planking, and the
bolts and screws, and other iron appenda-
ges of common vessels together with the
additional protection of the second ship"
there viii be mail of AZ inches of iron
covering, the iron monster from stem to
stern, making it almost impossible for any
common ball to penetrate Der.
The sinner vessel will be divided into
several compartments, both lOngitudinally
and transversely, within which are en-
closed both engines and boilers, thus Sc
curing the machinery beyond the pOssibil-
ity Of danger But to render them still
more safe both the engines and boilers are
to be covered with casemate in which
viii be mounted powerful battery. Weare
not permitted to give details of the arma-
ment. Suffice it to say, however, that in
side the casemate will certainly be placed
guns which, for size and power cannot be
surpassed in any navy. Upon the case
mate will rest two revolving turrets, on
Mr.. Ericssons plan, each containing two
very large guns, the casting Of which has
already commenced The vessel will
therefore, have the advantage of being able
to deliver broadside and at the same
L. A..
four guns in the turrets, in any direction.
The great objection to irOn-clad vessels,
and one which has been found in battle
as in the case of the Monitor and Merrimac,
proves to be exceedingly dangerous to life
lis the want Of accommodation not to
speak Of comfort, for men during an en-
gagemeDt In the new ram these incon-
veniences will be obviated. By singular
and very scientific arrangement Mr.. Webb
has been enabled to preserve all the ad-
vantages of the iron-olad vessel, and still
make her rOOmy, comfortable and we'll ven
tilated, and in every respect as convenient
below decks as a wooden man-of-war.
Nor will this tremendous ship be a mere
hulk lying in the neighborhoOd of land
alone She will be sea- going vessel in
every respect, furnished with sails thesam
as the Niagara or Roanoke and viii be
able to accommodate, besides the lighting
crew of artillerists, a large force of naval
sailors for whom there will be plenty of
55z room, and every accommodation for pro-
visions and all neeessaries for long vOy-
age Her keel will be laid in = few days.
Her keel blocks are now being put down.
1 i Ia
In addition to the above the Dictator and
Puritan will both be tremendous engines
of naval v arfare. The former has already
been commenced She viii be 35l feet
lOng-the Puritan 800 feet long. They
viii be about fifty feet beam. The vertical
sides will be six feet in depth, and pro-
tected by iron armor plating to the i'm
mense thickness of ten and half inches,
backed by four feet solid oak The YES
sells will be furnished with more powerful
engines than any now aaoat Each ship
will have two engines of hundred
inches diameter of cylinder, with four feet
stroke, making seventy revolutions per
minute with a boiler surface of $4,000
feet, and ], $50 feet of CRATE surface The
boilers are of upright water tubular pat
tern, being a modification of Martins
The propellers are EricssOn's patent,
2l} feet in diameter, 80 feet pitch They
sre expected by the builder to attsin
speed Of sixteen knots per hour, or about
nineteen miles. The turrets will be two
feet in thickness, if Captain Ericsson can
not construct 8 target Of less thickness
which on trial at Washington, will be
proved inTulnerable. The turrets will
stand force of 425-pOunders with the
maximum charges of the big guns. The
armament will consist Of I5-inch guns.
The vessels viii also be used as rams. The
plates, where they meet at the ends, form
-L a sharp wedge, twenty-one inches thick at
the. base, sustained by the plates behind it,
an e,d n hale ;roIos =, tb;oLross svfond