New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1862-01-27
The Ericsson Batter, IA New Rebellion Am
nintiat0r. z

H We get the following account Of q new and
unique Yankee engine Of destruction from arecent
issue Of the lew York Journal Of Commerce
1.-THE construction Of the ERICSSON Battery fur
nishes characteristic instance Of American energy
and dispatch The contract for the work was
signed on the 5thof October lasty the work itself
was commenced on the Goth of the same month
and there is now no doubt that the battery will he
finished on or before the 10Th of January, 1862
within the specified period. About one thousand
;sklfnl ehariics areemp oyed on various portions
q the Structure ana its equipments ana tie labor
the hull and deck is nearly completed, at the Con
tnental Iron Works, GTeenpoint. The principal
engnea and boilers and scr ews arein anadyanced
state at the pelanstsr IRON Works, foot Of Thir-
lteenth street, New York. The Novelty Works are
rapidly giving shape to the deatt-dealing turret
MeBsrs. Chute Brothers. Of Schenectady will not be
behind with the turret engines and gun carriages.
Three large rolling mills in this city are employing
plates. i.# Il b 4
Captain Ericsson invests his undertaking with no
mystery. The public are free to know about the
plan, the dimensions, the armament and the most
minute pecularitiestofEh his unique invention. The
following description may convey some idea of it ;:
+ The battery rests upon two vessels, an upper
eand d lower one. The upper is bnilt5of iron, one
hundred and seventyfour feet long, forty one feet
four inches wide and five feet Deep with draught
of THREE to sig inehes leaving only eighteen inches
8of the sides exposed above the water line. The
sides are covered with white oak bulwark, thirty
inches thick, but receive their principal protection
from an arnlor Of rolled plate: iron, six inches
thick. The deck is made Of oak beams ten inches
thick, covered with plank eight inches thick and
lone inch plate. henpper vessel is fiat bottomed,
and has a wedge-shaped stem and stern. The
lower vessel, which IL entirely submerged, ia one
hundred and twenty feet long, thirty four feet
wide and Six feer six inches deep 1t contains the
working machinery, the rudder and the anchor,
housed away beyond the reach of the. enemys
shot. Upon the deck of the upper vessel, and the
only conspicuous object on this !" low raking" and
terrible craft s the tnrret twenty feet in diameter
nine feet high and composed Of nine one inch iron
plates, Tapped over each other and fastened with
thousands Of belts A sheiEproof roof, six inches
thick covers the torret, which is entered through
hatchwayss from above. The total weight of the
turret ID one hundred and twenty tons,
The armament consists of two columbiads, (Which
are preferable to rifle guns Of short ranges1 each
carrying ball OF one hundred and eighty pounds,
and working through circular port holes three feet
above the deck. The carriages are made of
wrought iron, and move on forged iron slides. The
turret can pc turned at pleasure by spurWheel
and gearing driven BY double-cylinder engine,
and controlled by aleyer in the turret. BY this,
tscontriyanee, the guns can be aimed, almost In
atantly, at any point in the horizon. The cylinders
for the main engine are forty inches in diameter,
with piston stroke Of twenty inches. Blowers
For the boiler and for ventilation are worked by
small separate engines. The smoke Is passed Off
through gratings la the deck. The entire nost Of
the battery viii be 1915 600. Guns and men to
work them will be furnished by the Government.
| Among the requirements Of the contract is one
battery shall have aspeed Of not less than
| eight mica an hour. Captain Ericsson believes
that this rate is easily attanable. There Is another
Remarkable y provision, that the battery shall be
tested at the shortest ranges before the enemy's
guns. The inventor is not the least alarmed al
this prospective ordeal. II the nne-inch platings
on the tnrret (ths 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. But it Is believed nine
Il inches Will be q sufficient thickness, The best
practicable thickness can only be ascertained By
actual experiment. That four and q half inches
Che thickness Of plates ON the Ii Gloire aad War.
riprl are not enough was satsfac torily proved by
i Captain Ericsson in experiments conducted b.
i him many years ago. II &; s5s5 $ls 3 f sf
The tesr 10 which the battery will be subjected