Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-03-17
Capu Ericsson. Account OF his Iron.
plated snip. before the Chamber OF
Commerce. New York.


'NtA- fef%70fF' 1sattAtffs
CAPT Ericsson. at the invitation of the Cham
Der. arose. aud was received With applause. tie
said: have the great satisfaction 20 tell the gen
tlemen that this morning. few minutes after
was called upon to attend this meeting. got a
letter from Dir. sinners. | sent copy OF u TO
the EueHing Post. 80 that the press should have
il this morning. will NOW read YOU Captain
Sinners letter: t.I
1RoS CLAD MoSIToR.
Hampton Road, March y, 1862
MY DEAR SfR-After n stormy passage which
proved rs 20 oe the finest ea-boat was ever IN,
We fought the Merrimac for more than three
hours this afternoon, and sent her back TO Nor
folk in a sinking condition. Iron clad against
iron clad We Unanswered about the bay here,
and went at each other with mutual herceneSs.
! consider that both ships we're we'll fought We
we're struck twenty two tines-pilot house twice,
turret nine times. side armor eight times deck
three times. The only vulnerable point was the
pilot house. One OF your great logs - by IL
inches ihick) is broken in two. The shot struck
just outside OF where the captain had his eye. and
it has disabled him by destroying his left eye and
temporarily binding the other.
That Is proved since not 10 be sd. IL was
imagined at FIRST that his eye was lost
The log il not quite in two, but Is broken and
pressed inward y inches.
This shows the immense force of these shots.
THIS beam is inches by IL, aud of the best
wrought IRON This gives an idea of the diff
Guilty of resisting these shot, and vet we have
succeeded in the turret in doing so
She tried to run u down, and sink W. as she
did the Cumberland Yesterday. but she got the
worst OF IT, Her bow passed over our deck and
our sharp, upper edged side cut through the light
shoe upon her stem, and well into her oak. She
will not Try that again. She gave tremeu
dous thump. but did not injure as in the least.
We just able To find the point of contact.
That IL gratifying, that after such q cOncus-
sion il was difficult 10 see where she struck her
The ,urret is splendid structure. | don
think much of the shield. but the pendulums are
fine things, though | can not tell you how they
would stand the shot. as they were not Int.
The saied Is an extra thickness of two inches
on the fighting side. Ii placed there princl
pally on account of the sound | WAS afraid that
the force OF the shock would knock the men
down.
You were very correct in your estimate Of the
efec, OF shot on men on the inside OF the turret
when il struck near him. Three men were
knocked down. of whom | was one; the other
two had to be carried below, but | Was not dis
abed at all. and the others recovered before the
battle over.
Before the Monitor left | charged the officer
particularly 10 tell the men not % be frightened
| told him TO tell the men; let every man ge,
down on his knees. and don't be alarmed when
the rebel shot strikes you. because il won't hurt
you They all put the question TO him, Wont
the shot 20 through" M" says he, cit will
stay out" "Then we don't cane, they said
But Tor this precautiOn their would have been
great CONSERVATION when the tuTret was struck
GU may estimate the shock when a shot OF
300 pounds weight. moving ut the rate of , 00t
feet in second, strikes within Il foot of man ::
head
Captain Worden stationed himself at the pilot
house. Greene fired the guns. and turned tn,
turret until the Capain was disabled and was re
heved by Greene, when | managed the turre
myself. Master Stodden having been one of tn,
two stunned men.
| proposed to the Captain to let the sailing
master turn the turret On one side OF the tur
there Is a telescope. reflector, the image be
ing bent by prism This sailing MASTER whC
has nothing TO do OF board the Monitor pro
posed that he she I'D be stationed there. He no
only looked through the telescope, but by mean,
of IA small wheel he turned the turref Just ex
actly where he liked He did that To admiration
pointing il exactly on the enemy As the Moni
tor went round. the turret kept turning lit Ii,
doubt astonished Captain Buchanan), so tina
wherever the Monitor was. IN whatever position
it was placed. the two bulldogs kept looking n
him all the time
Capt. Ericsson, | congratulate YOU upon YOU
great success. Thousands have this day blesse,
YOU. | have heard whole crews cheer YOU
Every man feels that YOU have saved his place {,
the Nation 10y furnishing with the means t
whip an irOnclad irigate that was, until our arri
val. having it all her own way with our mos
powerful vessels. | am with much esteem, YER
truly yours, ALBAN g. SINNERS.
Capt. J. Ericsson. No. 30 franklin street
New York.
cannot, said Capt + permit This opportunit,
to pass without saying that look upon the sue
cess of that rs being entirely owing To the pres
ence of master mind. The men were new
their passage had been very rough, and the mas
ter had 10 put his vessel right under the heavies
guns that are ever worked on shipboard. Ii i
evident that but for the presence of a maste
mind ON board that vessel that success could no
have been achieved Capt orden no doubt
acquitted himself in the most mastery manner
But everything was quite new He felt quit
nervous before he went Oh board The fact tina
the buwark of the vessel was but one foot abov
the water line was enough To- make him So Whei
| before tie Naval Committee. the CRANE
objection was that IN sea way the vessel woul
MT work. gave it as my opinion that itwou,
prove the most easy working in SET way. and /
l. an excellent sea boat The men are supple,
with fresh air. though there Is no opening saw
through the tUuet. by means OF blowers workev
by the engines, and they are perfectly comlorta
bic. They can remain on the top of the turret II
the set-way; 1t i sixty four feet in circumier
ence-qulte 4 promenade. lhough the deck /
but foot above the water line the top of th
turret Is nine feet above: and here is the import
ant pOut, that the vessel is in the sea.way per
hapS the 81 est ever built. IL takes go 900 lbs
t. brins her down There can he no danger q
her swapping. Il Is very much like both
with a cork IL In relation To the point wheth
the Monitor IS capable of taking care of th
M,rrimac. Iet me say that she would have SUM
the Merrimac but tor the fact OF her having tire
too high IL they had kept OH q, distance q
300 yards and held the gun exactly level th
shot would have gone clear through But Nh
sinners had the guns elevated "a little. and ia
roof OF the Merrimac Is 50 strong that the ball
reboundei Next time they encounter the Mer
rmac they Will leave the guns level. and the
won mind ii The bali strikes the water becaus
the ricochet will tike it where they want it, Tn
next time they 90 cut. predict the third roun
Viii sunk the Merrimic There j. another grea
point: They had hity Wroug ht iron shot whil
We're Tot used Capt Dthsren issue peremr
tor, orders that the. should not be used an
they obeved those orders. Now. wrJught-rO
shot Is one thing and "a cast iron shot is another
\ wrought iron shot cannot break. The ,id
avn o. Of the Merrimac Is Insufficient 90 resist II
i he chanue. j. very nov aud the Merrmt
a.. fs.tr 81,