, 1863-12-25
mGErEoRs BEFORE CHARLESTON
Report Of the Result Of tho Fire by
the Monitor Captains.

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lRelatiDg to the Monitor attack On Charles
ton, in April last, under Admiral Dupout:l
tfCapt. Drayton, of the Passalc:
At the fourth shot from d 11-lnch gun was
struck in quick succession in the lower part
OF the turrct By two heavy shots, which
bu]ged in Its plates and beams, and forcing
together the rails on which the 11~fnch car
riagc worked, rendering It wholly useless
for tue remainder of the action-scveral
ing order. Soon utter It was discovered that
there was something the matter with
the tuEret itself, which could not
be moved, and on examination it vas found
that e part Of the brass ring underneath it
had broken of, and being forced In board,
Lad 1ammed; on clearing. this, the turrct
could agnin be moved; but for some time
frrcgularIy. 4 little after very heavy rif1e
shot struck the upper edge cf the tur1et,
broke al1 Of lis eleven platcs. nnd then glanc-
irg upward took the pilot-house; yet with
such force rs to make m indention Of two
and half inches, extending nearly the whole
length Of the ehot. The blow was so severe
as 70 considerably mash In the pilothouse,
bend 1t over, open the plates and squeeze out
the top, 50 that on ono side it was lifted up
three inches aborc the top on which it rested,
exposing the inside Of the pilot-horse, and
rendering 1t likely that the next shot would
take OF the top itself. entirely.
Two or three heavy shot struck the eldo
amor near the same place. They have SO
broken tho iron that it only remains in splin.
tered fragments upon that spot; much of 1t
can be picked Oft by the hand, and the wood
Is exposed.
The deck was pierced SO as to make hole,
through which Wafer ran into the vessel;
but 1t vas not large. Thirty-six bolts were
broken in tho turrct, and good many in the
pilot-house; but us these are. concealed by an
iron lining, have no means Of knowing
how many.
At one time the turret rcvolved with Diff
Guilty in consequences Of shot upon it's juno
tion With the pilot house, but 1t worked
well again afler few turns had been made
with higher steam. %
Captain Wordcn, Of the Montauk:
desire to say that experienced serious,
the narrow and uncertain channel, with the
limited means Of observation afforded from
the pilot house, under the rapid and conccn-
trated fire from the forts, the vessels Of the
fleet close around me, and neither compass
nor buoys to guide me- Alter testing the
weight Of the enemy's fire, and observing
the distractions, I am led to believe that
Charleston can not be taken by the naval
force now present, and that had the attacks
been continued, 1t could not hare failed to re-
suit in disatcr.
Commander Ammen. Of the Patapsco:
Forty-seyen projccti1es ftho enemy struck
the vessel. No t1lmage was done which dis
abled her, although injuries were received,
which, multiplied, would do SO. Forty
bolts Of the smoke stack were broken, and d
chain around it will be necessary to It's con-
tinucd security.
am indebted to Acting Master Vaughan,
transferred Temporarily 70 this vessel, for
1.n1fa,1M mid in prnf3irfr ortj1rsono to
out Of the question for one person to observe
properly from the various light holes.
tlinls 4 want Of vision ono OF the most seri-
ou6 defects Of ibis class, making it impossible
10 fight them advantageonsly, to avoid dan
Sane, sance. - ~ D'3-' 'S@As''' 1ss'l'Ho''-
Another question Of great importance rs
relates to their efficient employment is the
character Of the battery. lit Is proposed to
batter down forts with q fttccu-inch gun,
then 1t is quite plain that we have to come
within distances ut which heavy ordnance, If
not fail In the end to intnrc or perhaps dis
able us.
Commander Rogers, Of the Catskill:
was surprised to find, even with this &C.
we're fire, that these vessels could be so much
Injured in SO short q time, two or three having
passed NC during tho action, to which some
disaster had happened: This vessel was
serious injury, except one shot upon the for
ward part Of the deck, which broke both
plates, the dcck-planking, and drore down
The iron etanchion sustaining the beam about
one incl, causing the deck to leak.
Commander FairfAx Of tie Nantuckct:
Our fire was very slow, necessarily, and not
half 80 observable upon tho walls Of the forts
as Tie rain Of their riac shot and heavy shell
was upon this vessel After the third shot
from the 15-inch gun, the port stopper be-
came jammed, several shot striking very near
the port and driving in the plating; It was
not used aEain.
As the fleet Withdrew, the forts materially
slackcned their fire, evidently not wishing to
c1pcnd their ammunition without some re-
suit Certainly their firing was excellent
throughout; or.unate1y 1t was directed to
some haf: dozen iron.clads Ct {. time. The
NTH that Of their heavy rific-Bhot upon the
monitors, Is sufficient proof that any one
vessel could not iare long Wtthstpo1 the con-
centruted fire Of the enemy's batteries. Tie
distractions being placed at concentrated
point Of fire. from The three forts, shows con-
clusivcly that they must have been Of no
mean character. Our FIRE always drew down
upon us four or are heavy rifle. shots, aimed
ut our ports. One ri1ie-shot struck within
less than six inches Of tie fifteen inch port;
several struck very near. I MIN convinced
that, although this class Of vessels can stand
J
render them comparatively harmless before
formidable earthworks and forts must say
that am disappointed beyond measure at this
experiment OF monitors overcoming strong
forts. 1t was fair trial
Lieutenant Ecardslce. Of the Nantucket:
One rifle shot struck on the lower corner Of
the fftccn-Inch port, denting the outer plate
about one and half inches, and bu1ging the
whole thickness, so much rs 10 prevent the
port stopper from swinging. This shot was
received after the third fire from the fifteen
inch, and disabled the gun for the rest of:tbe
ten-ineh shot struck directly opposite, and
near tie top Of the turret, starting d number
Of bolts, and breaking the clamp ring inside.
During the action the turret became jan,ned-
Cpon examination, NC discovered six or Sc
ven bolt-hcads and nuts that had fallen inside
and into the recess around the bottom Of the
turret, rendering It necessary to key the tur
ret higher in order to clear them. Upon
attempting to rcvo1yc the tuErct agnin to-t1ny,
found that another had fallen since the first
were removed. The pilot house WAS struck
once. square hit, but doing no damage.
The side arn1or Vas struck nine times-once
below the water line. a number Of the side
plates are started SO much that another shot
IN their vicinity would, in my opinion, knock
them OF. One bolt was driven through the
iron and was buried in the oak. Ono Of thu
deck plates is started from blow on the side
upper sections, and received five shots in tho
lower scctions-one solid ten inch, fell,
after striking upon the deck and was secured.
The steam-wh{5tie was cut OFT The deck
plates were cut in twelve places. One shot
cut through tho iron, md about two inches
into the beam, starting the plate, several
bolts, and the planking for some feet below.
This was directly oycr the Andrews pump,
IL the cnginc-room. The others are not seri-
ous. The first discharge Of the tfteen-inch
gun blew of eight of the heads of the bolts
securing the 1nuzzlc box. The discharge Of
the elcycu-inch gun, or else the blow of
shot on the tur1ct, lifted one Of the perGora-
cry secured The outer plate in tie fifteen
inch port is started about one-fourth Of an
incl; the next layer In q less degree. Two
OF tic 'tguides" to the e1even-inch carriage
were carried away, through the gun not being
properly compressed. Some Of the gear to
the enginc-room bell was disabled at the first
fire, causing trouble and confusion in getting
to engine-roo1n.
Captain Downs, Of the Nahant:
We soon began to suffer from the effects of
the terrible and, ! believe, almost unprece-
dented fire to which re were exposed, and at
4:S0 the turrct refused to turn, having become
ianmcd from the effects Of three blows from
heavy shot, two Of them on the composition
ring about the base ofthe pllot-house Zone Of
these breaking of piece Of iron weighing
78 pounds from the interior, that assisted to
keep the house square on It's bearings, throw
ing It with such violence to the other side Of
the house, striking, bending and disarrang-
ing steering gear in its course that it bound
ed from the inside curtain and fell back into
the center OF the housel and the other on
the outside Of the tu1ret, bulging it in and
driving OF the * inch apron bo1tcd on
10 the inside to keep in place the gun rails,