, 1863-04-18


feel called upon to state, for the iufoEma-
ton Of the country, that the imperfections Of
tic Monitors, shown By Admiral Dupoat's
trial of their strength at Charleston, are not
of IL serious character. What has happened
will be readily obviatcd for the future Every
thing connected with our new fighting ma
chimes worked precisely as 1ntended, not u
single change Of plan being called for. The
piiUt-Aouse proving of insufficient thickness
was not an unforeseen circumstance. The
limited experience which We have had In &C.
tual conflict indtcat cd that eight Inches thick
means assumed to be settled point. Hence
such construction was adopted that, With
ont removing the structure, or changing is
interior arrangements, any number of nd
ditional plates might be attached to the e1te-
rior, and It's thickness increased to any extent.
Of an interior slclcton-cyllnder, composed Of
plates firmly riveted together, to which any
number of plates may 1e bofted- It is by no
means get established that our tu1rets req1ife
increased thickness, excepting possibly III the
bnse. The public will do well not to be
servers, who are startled at seeing tho int,ent-
atoms produced by the eaemy's projectiles.
We apply amor to Keep out hostile shot-
not to prevent scare and indentations. So FIR
we have tuliy succeeded.
It will be proper to, observe that the sup
posed imperfect steering qualities are utterly
gruund1ess- There Is no class Of vessels il
the navy that obey their helm 50 readily as
the Monitors: The reason il sclfevident.
The large equipoise rudder emp,oycdis is acted
upon by the powerful current from the pro
pel1cr with such force as to change the course
Of the vessel with the slightest motion of the
helm. In strong currents and in shallow
water, as In Charleston harbor, no vessel can
be readily maneuvered.
Admiral Dupont's preliminary attack on
| Charleston-the first practical test of IRON
| c1ads-must be regarded as the most impor-
tant cyent in naval history. To this country
| the gallant assault on Sumter by tho new aud
untried vessels, exposed to the terrible flank
ing and raking fire Of numerous other fOrts,
il frauglt with incalcu1able benefit. Wha.-
cTer may be the ulte.ior object Of Govern
| 1nent, the substantial advantage has already
| been secured Of knowing exactly what the
| iron-clads can endure and what remains to
! be done to render the new system perfect. 1t
| was high time that 0 practical test was insti-
tuted, since we are building more numerous
iron-clad fleet than is possessed by all Europe.
| The nation may thank the commanders Of the
Monitors for the knowledge gained through
their gallantry. With less daring on their
| part, the Navy Department would yet lack
| some Information necessary to direct the com.
pletion Of the impregnable feet now building.
| At the same time, the spirited attack On
| Sumter, and the havoc made duringan hall
hours contest, warns the Confederate leader.
that they must keep their numerous batteries
fully manned, and that they must not for a
| moment slacken their vigilance with Dupont
and his Monitors within half q days sail.
The history ofwa may be searched in vlit
for an instance Of smell costly preparation:
kept up at snch vast expenditure rs Charles
ton now requires, to ward off fhe blow frou
half a dozen small vessels, manned, provis
i0ned and coaled at less cost than m ordinar,
l Frc4-