New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-03-11

the application Of which has almost fai''d Us
by our neglect to prepare for the dangers with
which Wa were threatened by the descent Of
the Merrimac upoa our ships at Hampton
Roads. Though fully advised of the formidable
preparations which the Rebels were making to
attack our feet with an irreslsfihe floating
b,ttery. constructed upon the met approved
prjncples of modern art. her appearance, In
conjunction with the plated vessas-the York
town and .Jamestown-fOund II with no bat.
tery of similar character intercept her
progress seaward, OF up the Chesapeake and
the Potomac; and but for the 'pportune arrival
of the Ericsson battery, afr the successful
attack of these vessels up'n our an'iquated
sailing frgates and disabled steamers we should
now have been in a gr0ter state OF alarm
tbrouebout the country chan at any period
since the commencement OF the war. When
We consider the consequences that would have
attended the detention # day to the Monitor
BIZ any accident TO br machinery or iregu-
arity in its working, or by serious disaster at
sea- va may we'll trenble at the nsrrowness Of
our escape.
And why, We may well ask, have we been
thus dependent for our safety on contingencies
Of tbj, character, and permitted the Rebels 70
nearly 70 anticipate Us in the adoption Of this
formidable arm 81 warfare. Floating batteries
are not altogether o new feature in naval ser
vice. So long ago as 1918, one was constructed
,or our Government or plans furnished oy
Robert Fulton, but was completed too late Tor
trial in the war with Great Britain. But the
efficiency of such batteries was fully tested BY A,
the French and English IN the Crinean war;
aud one of superior qualities has for years
been Wing half finished upon the stocks at
Hoboken, which might mOntbs since have been
doing most valuable service. The French ana
English, by the construction the LAST year OIL
numerous iron-cased frigates aid SHIPS, nave
taught rs the estimation IN which the! noio
all vessels of war built of wood or OF iron oy
the ordinary method, and the American SHIP
builder, Donald Mckay, in his letter from
London of December 3, leGl, shows how
readily our hne-ot-battle ships eau be trans
formed into formidable batteries in very short
time. = recommendation which the ReOeh
alone hastened 10 adopt IN their niIeratlon OIL
the Nerrimac. His advice was: Cut down
b. all our lne-oi. battle ships one or two decks
case taem with j-iHch iron plates, put Bat
:. terry OF 30 or 40 guns of the heaviest caOsr
4" on board OF them, and moor them across Tho
"enirsnce Of our harbors; plate our hea'y
:. frigates with shell-proof iron plates, and 70
make up for the additional weight put ll'o
them, do away with their arr,amen. on Tho
upper deck.
While we congratulate ourselves upon toe
happy arrival of the Monitor at the very mo-
ment when most needed, for which indeed We
can take no great credit to ourselves We can
not fail TO regard the event Us serious can
for the rapid completion of numerous floating
batteries. and the conversion Of our wooden
/ frica.es, the insniciency OF which 10"
thoroughly proved, into deienses Of moro
trustworthy character. In our irgates, hne'
oi-battle ships, clipper ships, aud 'ehoon'
ers, we have the materials for hrSl'eisss
navy, even aganst the numerous Pia''
ships of the English and French but TO reAuei
them ser,icoable, they must DO protected "'''
/ tie plan advised by Mr. Mckay, ana tnoae"
We trust we have now escaped the imlaeaiA'e
danger impending over us, we LOOK VIE eo'"'
dence to the adoption o! Ills important e0aas'
wbi.,, shall render our vessels OF war 'o''
,,,5,hle aeG,nse and orr navy impregnable.
t-s.. s-1s $3.50