The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1864-01-14
Correspondence Lancaster Gazette.
PEEKsKILL, n. Y, l
DEC. 20 1863

=
have been to see two Monitors
one the Dictator, WHICH ! suppose is
the largest and most formidable war
vessel in the world, and the other, the
Onondaga, double turreted Monitor.
SupposiDg description of them would
be interesting To you, and perhaps to
the readers Of your paper, ! will give
you what information have gathered
concerning them, and in doing 50 /
will be as brief as possible,
The pictatop, the largest vessel Of
the kind afoat, is building at the De
lamatter Iron-worls. About a month
ago an attempt was made to launch
her She moved about four feet, but
would 90 no farther, although pow
erful ram and several large tug boats
were used. Another attempt last Sat
urday proved successful. .
Her length is 3l4 feet, breadth 80
feet, and depth 22k feet She is built
almost exclusively ofiron, her frame
entirely so. The frame covering con
sists Of heavy timbers, 14A inches
square, placed Icngthwise, and secure
ly boltcd together with screw bolts,
without nuts. This covering is 81
feet thick. The armor consists Ofll
inches of iron. First are 4 onc-ineh
plates, over which are wrought iron
beams, 8 inches thick BY 3 inches wide
and covering Of the whole Of two | =
inch plates, all bolted through and
through. This armor, backed by the
heavy i4i'inch timbcrs, extends down
her side about six feet, and projects out
into the water about 4 feet all around.
Beneath this projection, and extend
ing two feet downward, is an arpor of
the same thickness, leaving lSi feet
with a covering of but one-inch plates,
The weight of this armor is about 52j
tons, in itselfa burden for a good sized
vessel. The material cost about
S60,00G. ..... ... ..
The deck is not yet plated. The
plates are 10 bc II inches thick-the
whole thickness of deck armOr. The
deck is free from all useless obstrnct.
ions, nothing but the smoke-stack and
turret to be placed thereon. The tur.
ret is in the works, incomplete. 1t is
to be cntirely of iron, consisting Of
inch plates and 5-inch beams, same as
side armor, and is pieFced for two
guns Of large calibre; its weight j.
nearly 500 tuns, almost as heavy as
side armor.
Her engines are placed, and ape
monsters. The cylinders, of which
there are two, are placed athwart ship
They are 100-inch bore, with 4 feet
stroke of piston. They are placed in
two large kelsons, 10 feet deep and .
feet wide, 6fwrought iron.
The boilers are not yet aboard, but
are on the dock ready They are sis
in number. You could not conceive
what amount of work there is on them
Each boiler has six furnaces, making
36 in all, with an aggregate of 1lO(
feet of crate surface. Altogether they
weigh about 42O tuns. The cost is
about s40, 900 each.
The screw, or propeller, is 2i1 feet
in diameter, having a pitch of 81 feet
and weighs 10000 lbs. 1t is well pro.
tected, and it would be almost impossi.
bic for ball'to reach it. The shaft i:
immense, weighing 36 tons.
As she now stands, minus her tur-
ret, deck armor, boilers, and a portion
other machinery, she stands high out
of the water, her bow being about lC
feet, and her stern about feet above
the surface. When armed and equip
ped, she will stand near two feet above
water, and cannot be seen at the dis
tancc of four miles on the water.
There is much yet TO be done to the
vessel, but when finished it is thought
she will be capable of ndictating" tc
Johnny Bull, if need be.
The Onondaga is Monitor of two
turrets, and lies at the Iron works or
East river. She is rapidly nearing
completion, and although not so large
as the Dictator, will still be formidable
Her armor is about the same as that o.
the ordinary Monitors, Her engines
are placed, but her boilers are not
Her turrets are of the usual construct
ion, with the exception of the riveting
new plan having been adopted, which
will preserve the gunners from flying
bolts. A jacket, two inches thick, il
slipped over the main tupret, and the
space between them is filled with ;