The Portland daily press., 1863-04-10
Friday Morning, April 10, 1868.
The Ironclad Fleet at Port Royal.


On the 9th of March, 1862, occurred the
memorable contest between the Merrinac and
Monitor. From that day to the present time
the foundries and machine shops of the North
ern States have been employed in the con-
struction OF an iron-clad fleet. 1t was appar-
ent that Fort Sumter and the city of Charles
ton could not be repossessed without the aid
of an iron-clad feet, hence the necessity of
the fleet. Loyal people, who have desired to
see retribution come to the place where rebel
lion was inaugurated, have been impatient at
the delay. Months ago we were led to be-
lieve that the blow was to be struck at once;
but Admiral Du Pont was aware Of the mag
nitude of the undertaking, and resisted the
pressure which has been made upon him TO
fight unprepared. The Naval Department
within few weeks has walked up TO an appre-
ciative sense Of the difficulties to be surmount-
ed, and has responded TO the calls of the Ad-
miral. Charleston has been the chief port of
entry and departure of the blockade runners.
There the rebels have obtained most of their
supplies 1t has been difficult harbor to
guard, and notwithstanding the watchfulness
and vigilance of the blockading feet, nume-
rous vessels have slipped past the Gordon in
and out Charleston auctioneers have done
thriving business In knocking off the fabrics
of British looms and the products of forei IN
industry. The people have longed to see this
great leakage stopped, and now, after long de-
lay, after expectations deferred, after months
of anxious waiting, the fleet designed to ac-
complish that object Is here.
1t Is in appearance an Insignificant fleet
nine vessels in all-puny, almost ridiculous,
when compared with the stately ships of the
last thalfcentury-withs such symmetrical archi-
lecture as that of the Wabash Old sailors
who have swung upon topmasts in hundred
heavy gales, who have looked admiringiy from
forecastle to quarter deck along the guns of
- -. a..
queer craft now swinging at anchor at
Port Royal and Edsto. nr
But notwithstanding the insignifcance Of
the fleet in appearance, 1t is probably the most
powerful ever ssembled-certainly it is capa-
pie Of the greatest resistance. The thousands
Of guns which thundered at Trafalgar, all to-
gether, the French, Spanish and English,
would give feeble Are against Admiral Du
Pont. The ships Of those fleets were stately
they were stanch and strong The walls
of the Victory, Nelson's flag ship, were thirty
inches of solid oak. Few of the largest shot
thrown by the allied feet could penetrate the
sides. But we're the Victory an antagonist to
one Of the turreted RATS, her hundred guns
would be as harmless as the blow gun of
little boy, while her oaken walls would be no
more than brown paper against the modern 10
inch guns. & .Hf
THE sANTIssIMA AND VICTORY.
ItTudpS u comparison Oh Tie leOeTat meet
with son.e Of the great ships of the past half
century will give the best realization of the
power Of this little feet. Fifty-seven years ago
the battle of Trafalgar was fought. The two
great ships engaged there were the Santissima
Trinidada, from which Nelson received his
wound, and the Victory. The Santissima car
ried l40 guns-36- Founders, 1s-pounders, 12-
Founders and s-pounders. The Victory car
ried 102 guns-two 6S-pounder carronades Ia
short gum, 32, "a and l2-pounders. The San
tissima threw ll90 pounds of metal at broad
side, and the Victory 1880, each ship carrying
1000 TO 1900 men. In contrast the Montauk,
and all of the Monitor class, carry two guns,
throwing 656 pounds Of metal, requiring about
100 officers and men. The Montauk alone
would be more than match for all the ves-
sells, allied and British, engaged at Trafalgar.
So steam, science and art have changed ma
rine warfare.
POWER OF THE FLEET.
The flagship of Admiral Du Pont, the Wa
bash, in the action at Hilton Head, eighteen
months ago, at every broadside from twenty
four guns threw 100 pounds of solid shot into
the rebel fortifications. Her guns many of
them are 11-inch, the same calber as most of
those In the iron-clad fleet, yet this noble yes
sci would be powerless against single Moni-
tor. The tonnage of the Wabash is 3274,
while that of the Monitors is but SS4. The
iFon-clads of the Monitor class are con-
centrated powers.
The feet is composed of the following ves-