The New York herald., 1864-05-24

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huge wumes Of water and but for the pssssaes q mind
% Worden who ordered her 70 be upun sand bank
she would be lying at tho bottom Of the Oxsenes
river. Next Ia order the Psssaic Paapsco ana Nahant
.were sent TO destroy Fort heAnistss-shs Aontauk,
having been temporarily repaired being on the reserve
These bree bran Monitor batteries tsck up good
posi- ops for sns secutve hours bombardsd the
fort and the end OF that time they away having
accomplished no greater results than the Nontauk did
and report says Ii the rebels nrsd just rapidly
At close of the engagement they did whom t be
gan The Passaic suffered considerably arre prejec.
to going nearly through her bombproof deck, making
hole sufficiently large allow light, air and walsr to
enter freely To continue the operations At that point
was now deemed improper 70 the vsbss and the world
a. large showed plainly the ns1cisocy Of thu sysssm
ss armng vessels with only guns, notwshssandips
they Of large cabre; and In these operations the
vessels more weakened by the proectIes OF
the enemy Consequently they were Withdrawn 70 pre-.
pare for the attack upon Charleston.
These engas gave the designer number Of very
interesting and useful hints. and Of the defects
partially rsmsdisd, and parts Of the vessels sspgth
eued plating placed upon the decks he var
res and pioshouses temporarily protected inter-
AaIy oy feting and boiler iron, and orders sens
North TO have many articles sent 70 make them Gt
70 into action. Steamers chartered at any price,
end materials regardless OF down
70 make these vessels accomplish something. Admiral
Dupont and bis officers did everything In their
power to forward the work, and, after many serious de-
lays tho great iron clad feet started ts mission.
The country expecting great things and the ocers
strained every nerve to accomplish the orders OF the
ernment aud to gain the plaudns OF their country.
men. We all know the sequel. The ships went In close
m and for nearly hour the combined force OF Moni
ors used their pest endeavors 10 reduce Suer and force
passage to the city but they forced retire
% sunk Tho Keskuk entirely used up; but
not Monitor, and she should not have been In where
shc was It Is said the Monitors could have gone up the
next day We grant III t. but, they had just
surely hey would have stayed thers have forced
% again retire, 10 condition than they before
The reports Of the commanders OF these vessels sh
plainly the coadton Of thcm and Admiral Dupont acted
wisely when he did not order them 70 try again. Here
are abstracts OF the reports OF the commanders OF
these vessels. They speak for themselves
NANTUCKET -Turret jaununed.
PAssAc.-B Broke all its iturret) eleven plates =
1o"k the pih.housc with such force as TO make an In
hHse bent over opened the plates and squeezed oat
the tnp.
hole. through which the water into the vessel. The
turret rev0lved with difficulty.
MoNTA K-nd not suffer much.
PArNeco.-Fircd ony ten r0uuds rife disabled. !
shmk want OF vision one Of the most serious detects
Of this cass, making It impossible to fight them adyan
CArssIL Il was surprised to nnd even with this severe
Are that these vesse could be much iuurod In so
short tme two or three having passed me during the
acton to which some disaster had happened.
NAHASr. INC steering becoming the same time
sum or. Snmanagssbie. / Concluded 10
retire fr t,ne from close action. and epdsavor 10
chor WE'LL and propeller we'll plates and the tops Of the
urret and pothonse as entirely 70 defend the
places they cover firm being entirely penetrated.
IA of hat
sae fleet was not ht 70 60 into action the following
morning, and although II Is charged that the torpedo
raft bad been used they could have passed beyond the
distractions, see what Captain Rodgers says about that
anar-"No vessel can carry except In smo,th
water. No prudent would carry the torpedo
attached 70 the ran In ees An accidental collision
~oul9 blox NJ his own friend, and he would be more
drsadssshsa "a enemy" 10 references to renew. ~.
Salsek be ssY:-"wah POUR present means could no.
wsre asked reco@nend renewal Of the attack" 30
much for the Charleston affair. II was grand demon
sratou the rst large experiment with Iron clads and II
resulted In grand failure. SO long these reports
kept away from the public, 90 long did the Monitor
interest sudesvor to turn the public feeling
into tho belief that Admiral Dupons did not
DO his duty, and Il was NOT until the re-
ports were published that many believed otherwise
Than tina. the Monitors tho grandest Institution ia
the world and the old Admiral was afraid OF
rebel Are.
The capture Of the rebel ram Aslauta again gave
upward tendency 70 Monitor stock Il was brilliant af
fair and reflected great credit upon the who served
the wekhswhens guos. the wsehawken was no: hit by
angle rro ec,ie IL quick work aud good Runuery.
For the nrss time Monitor 10 bsr proper sphc o,
end had they confined themselves 70 lighting vessels they
would still be worth something to us; but, as they
are now, one h sunk, completelv usei up, the
bull aud overhaag having parted compsny- tbs fore
hatch being the tImo OF the accdent-pctures to
rary notw thstandingwhie all the rest are patch
Cd and boed prevent them from falling to pieces be
fore they out But 70 return TO chronology. Du
posts refusal sagase Fort Sumter with the ironclsd
batteries the following day caused deal Of III feeling,
and h1 reports and those Of his officers too truth
sa and disparagng to this grand interest. they mme
aatsly descrmined TO haye him removed. which
eomplshed 10 due course q time.
cApssns nrAytsa and worden, and In fact ali onlcors
VINO known TO Rave any feeling against tbs Mont
ess, qseuy rsmovs1 and transpsanted TO ccsles
wsrs thsir influence should not initiate sgsa' the pet
uysscm. Further cousracts usgsd aad all manner
z means The purpose rasyns all stops
eaken extra remuneration for WORT already done
a well as thss proposed. Everything so,a drmsr
chan ever ID rhe hands OF Ericsscu, 0riswnd Bushne
Wiusiow o. and for time thing ys swmmingly.
pahgren the purpose Of obtaining service,
was sent tho South Atlantic squadron and eta a.
tack Charleston agreed urou. The Monitors OF
course wore TO great show sud Charleston 10
- taksr ..sure" The result was that after sundry
pouudsxes and repairing they obliged TO give tho
lob up While awaiting orders 10 withdraw and abandon
ehe scse M fer tae navy concort Cd, the Wee
havkeu disaster occurred. Ono or the boased vessels
s.bctsar tnan lebcas," sunk at her anchor, having
ebuurpcd hor overhsag ea n moderate sea way Report
0rst aad that her sec hstoh on at the time. and
chat u Was . pieos u gross careessness Divers and
cosp ocJi IN ruiry Shcwcd that the fore hatch
and that the hull u the vessel was parted from the
n ovurbang which rryAuSe human Ingenuity could stop
Acsa thnf fho onv blah hnd hae