Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1865-07-24
Launch of the Dunderberg--Larsest Ram
AfIOat,

The great iron clad frigate ram Dunderberg
OF w. H. Webb, foot of Sixth street, East river,
New York, on Saturday morning. Despite the
rain, which came down in torrents, some six
crowded the piles of lumber, the vessels lying
around, and even the roofs of the houses in
Lewis street facing the scene of the launch. A
small platform erected, contained Rear Admi-
raj Gregory, under whose supervision the ram
was built, and Commodore Cadwalladcr Ring
gold, with few naval officers of minor grade.
About two hundred persons were admitted on
board the vessel.
The Dunderberg is an iron clad frigate ram
of 1900 tons displacement, is brig rigged, ana
was constructed especially for a-gong pur-
poses. She has two engines Of 5000 actual
horse power, and her contract calls for speed
of is knots per hour, ordinary stearning. Her
armament will consist of f5-inch Rodman'H
and from 12 to IL 11-inch Dahlgren guns The
principal dimensions Of the hull are as follows:
Length, $50 feet inches; beam, 70 feet 10 inch.
es; depth of hold, p feet inchesi height Of
casemate inside, feet inches; length Of ram,
bow, so feet. Her draft, when ready for sea,
will be 21 feet. Registered tonnage 5000 tons.
The iron armor will weigh about 1000 tons.
She has six main and two donkey boilers; tho
main boilers are 13 feet deep, Il feet inches irL
height, and 21 feet inches front, and together
will weigh about $50 tons. The boiler surface
is 10000 feet; the crate surface l,2O0 feet. The
cOndensing surface is IL, coo square feet.
The engines are horizontal, back action con.
densing, with two 1O0-inch cylinders and As
inches stroke Of piston. The propeller is 2I
from q to 80 feet, and weighs 345s0 pounds.
The plan of the Dunderberg is new and novel.
Her floor is fiat and her sides angular, and her
lines are such that she. in all probability, Will
be able to use her guns, when other vessels
would be rocking fearfully. The casemata
which surmounts the hull is pierced tor twenty.
one guns. Its sides slope inward at an angle
Of 35 degrees, are over feet in thickness,
covered over with states of hammered iron,
feet long, % inches wide, and ~ inches in
thickness.
The peculiar construction of the hull makes
her, as it were, two vessels, the space between
the inner and outer ship being used as coal
bunkers, and at the same time serving as an
additional protection to the engines, boilers,
and, in fact, the ship proper. One enormous
keel and six keelsOnS strengthen the ship fore
and aft, and aid in sustaining the great weight
of the armored casemate and battery. The
ram is part of the ship itself, and is not
bolted fastened on, as is usually the cases
but is an extension of the bow, which for over
fifty feet is a solid, firm mass of timber. This
is covered over with heavy wrought iron
armor.
The armor Of the side of the vessel is az
inches thick and placed on vertically in slaba
from IL to Is feet in length and feet wide,
screw bolted The pilot house is of iron, placed
upon the forward part of the casemate, and is
feet in diameter, feet high, and 10 inches in
thickness. The propeller and two rudders are
protected by a shelf, which extends out aft,
firmly braced and secured to the stern and
sides. She has one rudder common to all
ships, and q spare one located above and for.
ward Oft huge propeller, so that in case tho
main one is damaged, the spare one can b0
instantly put in use