Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1862-03-19
The Iron Clad Steamer Monitor.

As this already distinguished steam war
ship lnaugurates a new system of Naval
Warfare, certainly for harbor defence apd
perhaps for all warlike naval purposes
the chapter of her description as below,
is interesting. Capt j. Ericsson is the
notable invent r He said that he could
produce a battery within one hundred
working days, which could stand the test
before the heaviest guns of the enemy
and at the shortest range The evidence
so far is, that he has fulfilled his promise
Under the act Of Congress passed last
Summer appropriating 200, 900 for iron
clad vessels for the Navy, Capt J. Erics-
son, the world renowned inventor of the
ealorlc engine, presented proposals for a
battery, to be launched within one hun
dred working days from the date of the
contract, the impregnabiltv OF which
should be tested before the heaviest runs
of the enemy, and at the shortest range
The contract was signed IN October, and
on the one hundred-and first working dav
thereafter the Monitor was launched from
the Continental iron Works. at Greenpoint
where she was constructed by c :. Bush
nell X Co, under the superintendent of
Thomas ;. Rowland of Brooklyn.
Externally she presents to fire of the
the enemy guns a hull rising but about
eighteen inches above the water and a
sort of an armartello tower, twenty feet
lii diamater, and ten feet high The smoke
stack during the action is lowered into the
hold, 1t being made with telescope sides
The hull is sharp at both ends, the bow
projecting and coming to point ut an an
gle of eighty degrees to the vertical line
1t is flat-bottomed, six and a half feet in
depth one hundred and twentv-four feet
long, thirtv-.oar feet y de at the top and
is built of light three Fights inch iron
Another, or upper hull, rests on this with
perpendicular sides and sharp ends five
feet high, forty feet four inches wide. one
hundred and seventy-four feet long extern
ding over the sides of the lower hull three
feet seven inches and over each end TWEEN
/ ty-fve feet, thus serv n as a projection to
the propeller, rudder and anchor The
sides of the upper hull are composed Of
an inner guard of iron, and a wall of white
oak thirty inches thi,<, covered with iron
armor six inches thick
When in readiness for action. the lower
bull is totally immersed, and the upper one
is sunk feet inches, leaving only eight
cen inches above water. The interior is
open to the bottom like a stoop the deck.
which is bomb-proof, coming flush with
bulwark of any kind appears above the
deck, and the only thing exposed are the
turret or citadel, the wheel-house, and the
box browning the smoke stack The incli-
nation of the lower hull is such that n ball
to strike II IN any part must pass at least
through % feet of water and then strike
an inclined iron surface at All angle Of
about ten degrees. In the event of the
enemy boarding the battery they can do
no harm, as the only entrance is at the top
of the turret or citadel which cannot
easily be scaled, and even then only one
man at a time can descend into the hull
The turret is revolving bomb-proof
for and mounts two ! inch guns 1t is
protected by eight thicknesses of inch
iron, overlapping so that at no one place
is there more than one thickness of Joint
shell proof fiat roof, of perforated plate
iron, placed on forged beams, inserted six
inches down the cylinder, covers the top
The sliding hatch in this cover is perfora-
ted to give light and for musketry fire in
case the battery is boarded 4 spur
wheel, 6l-2 inches in diamatcr, moved by
a double cylinde- engine, turns the turret
guns and all. rod connected with the
running gear of the engine enabling the
gunner to control the aim The guns
move in forged-iron slides across the tur-
ret, the carriages being made to fit them
accurately.
These guns were furnished with four
hundred wrought iron shot by the Novel
ty Works, each ball weighing one hun
dred and eighty-four pounds and costing
forty-seven dollars The balls were made
by forging square blocks of iron, which
was afterward turned IN the la-he Cast
iron shot would break against such yes
sci as the Merrimac, and these shot were
formed for the special purpose of smash
ing through her sides
Lieut.. Worden intended, in case the
Merrimac did not come out, TO go into
Norfolk and lay his vessel alongside of her
there.