The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1863-08-27
Our Iron CIads.

n from the New York Times OF June 25th.l
In the accounts which we published yesierdsy-o
the iron clad battle bet tween the Monitor Weehawken
and the rebel iron clad Atlanta, we have the first
true test Of the wisdom of Ericsson's system of build
ing vessels of war. When the Monitor fought the
Merrimac in Hampton Roads, and permitted her TO
return TO Norfolk without being either totally de-
strOyed or captured, Ericsson claimed that the full
powers Of his vessel had not been tested, because The
guns which had been furnished him by the Navy De-
partment we're not so powerful az he had asked for,
or as the vessel was capable Of CARRYING. That orig.
inal iron clad battle, therefore, only proved the
impregnability of the Monitor when opposed to the
most powerful ordnance then aaoat.
In building the new vessels the Navy Department
increased the size of the guns from eIerea TO fifteen
inches calIoer, carrying up the weight Of the shot
from one hundred and seventy TO four hundred
pounds These enormous guns weigh twenty tons
each, and 1t has been a matter of grave doubt with
most Of our naval officers whether a lighter gun,
which could be fired more rapidly, would not have
been more seTviceable. Indeed, in the attacks upon
Fort McAllister in the Ogeechee river, and upon
Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, it was a universal
complaint against the Monitors that they could not
keep up a sufficiently Continuous fire, and that they
must have either more guns or lighter ones which
could be fired Oftener.
EricssOn's reply TO this has been, that he did not
design the vessels to fight forts, but shi ps and that
his idea OF "A naval vessel which should insure victory
az inst any other vessel whatsoever was 10 have u
gun of sufficient power 10 make a very large hole
through the armature of the strongest irOn-clad, on
board n vessel which ex exposed to the enemy the least
possible target. ana this made so thick and strong
that no ordnance could penetrate 1t. In such a yes
sci rapidIty of fire was not essential against sh fps {;
but. until now, there has been no opportunity TO
prove the correctness of this theory ; and the fact
that seven of these vessels, supported by the Ironsides
and the keokuk, retired from before Sumter after
one brief trial, certainly destroyed the charm which
hung around these vessels in the public mind. The
great fact that one of them had lain under the fire of
a fort while she destroyed one of the enemy's vessels,
three-quarrers of IA mile away, across the neck of
land forming - bend in the river. without paying the
slightest attention TO the fort, as the Montauk did the
Nashville, under the FIRE of Fort McAllister-passed
by almost unheeled, although such II thing was
never before known.
II would appear that the failure of the Monitors TO
take Charleston had materi lily lowered them in the
estimation of the rebels, for we see in the accounts of
the late battle that the officers of the Atlanta were
confident of their ability TO capture both the Wee
hawken and the Nahant Nor we're the people of
Savannah a whit behind them in this feeling. tor we
are told that two steamers, loaded with lalies and
gentlemen, had come down the river on 40 excursion,
to see the discontinue of the boosted Yankee Mon
ltOrs, and Tow them up to Savannah as soon as they
should surren Ter. How quickly WAS all this chang
ed by a few heavy blows of that terrible fOur-hun-
dred- FOUNDER
None of the famous old battles between wooden
ships were ever half so quickly fought. The descrip-
ton of the battle itself, by Captain Rodgers, in his
official report. Is equally short. He says:
AT quarter past Eve o'clock, being distant from
him about three hundred yards, we commenced fir
ing AT ~hali-Past five o'clock. the enemy hauled
down his colO-s and hOisted the white flag, we having
fired five shots.
This vessel was plated with FIVE inches thickness of
iron, placed AZ an angle of thirty degrees with the
horizon. Yet Captain Rodgers tells us that the first
shot struck this side armor, and broke in the armor
and the wood backing, strewing the deck with spiin-
tiers, Frustrating about forty men by the concussiOn,
and ~wounding more by the broken pieces of arnor
and spliuters. Yet this shot did not strike at right
angles to the keel. but at an angle of fifty degrees
with il. WHAT resistance then could the four and a
half inch vertical side armor of England's boosted
Warrior offer 10 such n shot striking IL at right
angles 1t would certainly pass directly through
both sides, aud il fired at any Of the many vital points
contained within this fimsy armature. one shot would
be entirely sufficient for placing her hors du combat.
IL i the actual demonstration of this important
fact which makes US feel grateful 10 Captain Rodgers
for the gallant service he has rendered the country
in the spirited battle in Warsaw Sound.
We knJw that we can defend our haTbors against
the most powerful iron clad frigntes which could by
any possibility be brought against US by any Europe
an naval power, in the event Of n war with any of
them and with regard to the clumsy craft which
the retels are constantly blowing up or surrendering
TO anything which s~piritedly attacks them, We have
no longer a feeling of the slightest concern. The
Atlanta was the staunchest one they had, with a
good English hull, and faithful English steam ma
chinery which would not blow up, and she lasted
just fifteen minutes after the Monitor vessel opened
on her.
We understand that the Government have built, or
ore building. forty or these vessels. The assurance
is as refreshing as a cool breeze on a warm day.