Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-07-19
Defect. I'm the Msnitsr and .Galsna.
lFrom the SCIENTIFIC Amerlcdn ]

From the Scientific American ]
From N on ,er on bt ard the Monitor we have
rpn 81 we'd letter from which We take the follow
fbe present no, weather is making apparent
soms or b. defects OF Gr vessel. The principal
! one the sufficient want Of ventilation. Ii was
S oposra that the air forced into the engine room
IA ten IN under the floors and admitted by means
OF registers into different parts Of the vessel,
| would he sufficient, out il does not prove to be
50 AS long as the weather was cool 1t was well
enough, Int as soon as hot weather came on we
foand that the air IN Its passage through the FIRE
roon (vv here the thermometer ranges from $50 TO
40 -grees) becomes heated Toe galley, IL You
remember, is In the ire room Just bebiI. I'd the
boilers consequently the smoke, ges and ii cvia
arising from our culinary operations ming with
tae current o; heated air from the hre room, and
give IL additional stencil from the bilge water,
II passes under the floor II the vessel, before
get II for ventilating purposes.
But IL Is with the deck-lights and matches
closed. In action, that we experience the greet
% ore perfect ventilation The draught at such
time, what little there Is, is upward through the
turret. which forms sort Of chimney for carry
ing OF the noxious gases from below, 80 that the
gunners therein whose labors severe, inhale
tha air that has not only taken the rou'n have
described, but has been deprived of nearly all Its
oxygen by passing through nearly forty pairs OF
lungs on the birth deck before reaching them
All on board suffered severely from this cause In
our late hght with the Richmond batteries.
Again, we find that the pilot-hou1e is In the
wrong
fought head on which is heI beet position as her
side armOr and all that portion OF her aft the
| turret would be much better protec ID.
We find, too, that our guns cannot be fred aft
over the smoke hatches without endangerlng the
boilers This would suggest the expedieLcy Of
having but one opening in the deck from the
furnaces, which would allow the guns to be
trained further aft
The ports do not allow of sufficient eleve 10 Il
only five degrees.
All Of thsse defects, with many smsller or q,
which exists, will be remediCd, am told, In T. e
new We Ssels now building.
The severest blow we have vet receiv,1 4 on the
turret was at Fort Darling IL ives from a solid
c-inch shot, fred from a very heavy charge OF
10 .'def from dist1nce of about eight hundred
yr'as. II struck the turret ve.y nearly perpen- i
dicular with its side, making an indentation of
three-and- -a-quarter inches, bat without any vsi-
the indentatiOn, the plates were somewhat e =
tured.
The iron-clad Galena wa5 severely handled In
this fight the fire from the batterlsJ being ST.
i concentrated upon her on finding that their
shot Were penetrating her sides | am not posi-
tive that any shot pF- ID entirely 'hro Igh both
sides, but l saw where a sn-'nch shot had gone
through her portquar'er, where her plat.ng 10
two apd-T half inches thick, with SIX inches Of
wood backing, and after pa sing over her gun
deck, had gone through the wood backing on
toe starboard quarter, and crowded OH the iron
plating.
Shells penetrrted her sides where II was Of the
thickne1 have stated above, and exploded on
her gums deck, making terrible havoc among ber
crew. In two or three places, where her spar-
deck was struck by ricOchst shot, the entire sub
stan nee OF the deck, both wood ard iron, for the
distance Of three feet and the width OF the she'll
was scooped out, leaving clear opening through
TO the space below. This deck, however, Is
ridiculOusly light, being made cf two irch plank,
covered with two inch iron plates. AZ far p,
resistance to shot Is concerned she is rnirerable
failure.