Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-03-13
) lDe.orlptlon % the ..lIonitor.n

I - a@1SSSNAPSlVH uA .Lu6 SMOnllOFsW
Under the act of Congress passed last
summer, appropriating Sl,50O,OOO fol
iron clad vessels for the navy, Captain J,
Ericsson, the world-renewned Inventor
OF the caloric engine. presented proposals.
for u battery, to be launched within ope
hundred days from the date of the con-
tract, the impregnability of which should
De tested before the heaviest guns of the
enemy, and at the shortest range. The
contract was signed in October, and on
tue Observation-Disclosures working day
thereafter the Monitor was launched from
the Continental Iron Works, at Grceupoint,
w9ere she was constructed by G. s. Bush
nell Il Co., under the superintendenCe OF
Thos. +. Howland, OF Brooklyn.
Externally she presents to the fire of the
enemy's guns hull rising about eighteen
inches above the water, and sort of mar
tello tower, twenty feet in diamet er and ten
feet high. The smoke stack during action
is lowered into the hold, it being mado
with telescopic slides. The hull is sharp
at both ends, the bow projecting and com
ing to point ut an angle of eighty degrees
TO tue vertical line. II is fiat bOttomcd,
six aud half feet in depth, one hundred
and twenty-fOur feet long, thirty four feet
wide ut tue top, and is built of light three
eighth inch iron. Another, or upper hull,
rests on this with perpendicular sides and
sharp ends, five feet high, forty feet four
inches wide, Quo hundred aud seven
ty-four feet long, extending over the sides
Of the other hull three feet seven inches
aud over cnch end twenty-five loct, thus
serving as Il protection TO the propelIor,
rudder and anchor. The sides Of the np-
per hull are composed of inner guard of
iron, wall of white oak thirty inches
thick, covered with iron armor six inches
thick. a.aia5
When in readiness for action, the lower
hullis totally immersed, and the upper ono
is sunk three feet six inches, leaving only
lS inches above water. The interior is
open to the bottom like a sloop, the deck,
which is bomh-prOof, coming flush with
the top of the upper hull. No railing or
6ulwark of any kind appears above the
deck, and the only things exposed ure the
turret or citadel, the wheel house, and the
box crowning the smokc.stack The in
clination of the lower hull is such that
ball to strike it in any part must pass
through at least twenty five feet of water,
and then strike an inclIned iron surface Mt
an angle of about ten degrees In the
event of the enemy boarding the battery
they can do no harm, ms the only entrance
IS at the top of the turret or citadel, which
cannot easily be scaled, and even then on
" one man ut time can descend into the
hull. EB.ar. ~ ~
This tnrret is q resolving. sbomb-proof
fort, and mounts two ll-inch guns. 1t is
protected by eight thfcknesses of inch
iron, overlapping so that at no one spot is
there more than one inch thickness of
joint. A shell-proof fiat roof, of perfora-
tedplate iron, placed on forged beams, in
serted six inches down the cylinder, COW
ers the top. The sliding hatch in, this
cover is perforated to give light, aud. for.
musEetry fire in case the battery is board
ed. A ,spur-wheel,64 inches ia diameter,
moved by double cylinder engine, turns the
tnrrct guns. and all, a rod connecting with
therpnning gear of the Iengtne enabling
thegunner to control the aim. The guns
move in torged-iron slides across the
turret, the carriages being made to fit
them accurately. 2
These guns were furnished with 400
wrought-iron shot by the Novelty Works,
each bail weighing 1s4 pounds, costing
G47. The balls were made by forging
square blocks of Iron, which were after
wards turned in the lathe. Cast-iron shot
would break against such vessel as the
Merrimac, and these shot were forged for
the especial purpose of smashing through
her sides. Lieut.. WordeA intended in case
the Merrimac did not come out, to 20 into
Norfolk harbor and lay alongside of her
there. She has saved him that trouble.