New Orleans daily crescent., 1866-08-30
a1elp GrIlans aiIg GJrastfnt.
e-a 7--
IT'S APPEARANCE AFTER TEE BATTLE.

i
The twelve irOn-cads which were engaged at
EAssa may be divided into four classes
4 Tie entirely projected ships-of which there
were four, viz; the Re alfalfa, Re di Portogallo,
Terrible and formidable.
Il wooden vessels, partially iron-clad--viz;
Principe di Garignano.
: s. Iron vessels, partially iron,elad- Anco,j
no, psiestro, yarese, Maria Pia, Castelhdafdo ana
san Msrtino.
Ny FIRST visit was paid TO the Re 81 gaiio,
yAEhieh Is sister ship to the Re lt sunk 10
the battle, and as the Re al Portogai6 bore
most prominent part IA the contest, she ts at
present the vessel which excites the greasess "a
,Serest here. Both these vessels we're butt n
A1uerica Tho oaty difference being that the Re
FiIfalia had ali her amor fixed before she came
across the Atlantic, whereas the Re dl Portoganot
which was not finished until after her sister snipsl
was IN nsnsedusnce al the great difficulties which
arose Ill the launch of the Re d'italias ouly par
sally plafeds tbeuppsr plates being sen wv n.
with her, and affixed q the Royal e0eAs .si'As -
sqlhe Re df PortogaEIo Is ayessel of nearly 6eOo
ions burden, is $50 feet long a1q = luIllse9 ~.
9snrgi,ts f,f 600 horse power Her rate OF steam-
ss 4 ,sire ISaots per hour, and she carries coal
Esrffcient for five days. IN external appearance
s6e Is by no means handsome vessel. Her port
holes 81 once strike one as being too close
lFnratller hef bow is straight, and she has no
Ysga Ara therefore has not the very aggressive
sfppk which most iron clads have; and lastly, she
IA a are all the iron elads perfectly dishgured by
She coats Of whitish-blue paint with which they
are all covered, in accordance with the orders OF
Admiral Persane, after they arrived in Ancona
~ ne wanted IL mt his crews ant of concet with
the appearance of their ships he went an excel
lent way to work TO do so. Her sides go straight
up at the bow and stern, but fall in towards the
center, so that the line of the buIwarks IS as
nearly as possible straight from end to end
Before going on board pulled slowly around
her, stopping to examine the shot marks in her
side. 1t was surprising to see what little damage
had been done III may almost say that she has
suffered no damage at all. The shot had made
round dents of some four to five inches in dame
ter and from one or two and half inches deep.
he mark mad nv the shells were more ragged
sgrne of them were eight to twelveinches in diam
eter with rough uneven edges. Several had
struck upon the edges plates. denting them
x,Iafe only, struck In this way upon the edge.
looked as If the bolts were slightly started. Many
f the shots had struck off the heads of bolts; but;
although the heads were bent in the same form as
the indentation upon the plate, in no case did
seegone broken or.
In fact, as far as her iron casing was concerned,
the BE di PoTtogalo came out of the combat, in
which for more than an hour she was engaged with
two and three iron-clads of the enemy, absolutely
without damage Aot one et her plates was pen
etrated, eraeKedi or seriously looseneq. on get
ting round 10 her stern hef weak polle ea5 "
& onee noteeaDe--naaeiYs Hle E1aaer WhlSl 4, Il L
quite undeiendeos ana, osleg % lae sA5pe 81 Aet
stern has some SIX or seven IseI q ~ lsnsln e-
posed 70 tns enemy IL Dasls, II vas pleclseiy ms
defect WiIe caused the loss Of tne slsieTs me
Re gltala her radder was asa peg alnost w the
1eginnng q VIZ cohlc,, ana sle Was, y ri va 7,
became an easy prey 70 heF asly ~ .
serious defect, and VIII always render 1he ke q
oFtogao, perfect AZ ~ nef Lon piaiIing, ih dal-
ger ot qestfpctioA m any .paltle sgs may engage
an for her prominent rqdder Wenla Pc an instant
q mark for the enemy Shot and that once STRUCK
.she lS disabled. 2f ss@
The iron plating Of the Re di Port0gallo is COW
erred with d casing of about nine inches thick Of
4sood to height Or two feet above thewater line,
ana upon this wooden casing her copper sheath
ing is fastened. The whole length Of her port
sEsniwaTk with the exception Of some fifty feet
at the stern which was carried away lm her COLI
sion with the Kaiser, the two vessels grinding to-
gether for their wBeIe length. In this collision
sfe Rio al Pof t9gailo had as have saidy the whole
of her buIwarls torn away, sixteen of her port
ahnfters Wrenched oil, together with the cathead,
davis shrouds and indeed, everything which
s. 1Eojeeted from her side. The Kaiser must have
suffered at least equally, for beside the fact that
her antagonist was an iron7olad while she was
only q wooden vessel, the Re di Portogalo had
an her guns Ioaned and discharged theIaion py
one into ber as they grounded past each olher
while the Kaiser, which mad gust dlaeharged Aer 1
destructive FIRE she must have received.
ON gaining the deck Iperceiyed at once to What
. terrible fire she had been exposed. Her rigging
must have been literally torn to pieces, for it has
been almost entirely renewed. Upon the deck
were several black; ragged holes OF from one to
twoinchea IN depth, where shells had struck aud
burst. The boats saw lying in the doek-yaris,
eompIetey smashed TO pieces. On descending to
$he apndeek found THAT she carried thirty-sfx
gums. consisting of TWO Armstrong 300-pOunders,
ten 6s-puupders. and the rest 32-pounders. hut
most of them strengthened with steel AZ The
breach. and throwing bolts Of fifty pounds. be-.
Iieye shat they were ali rified was parteularly
anxious 10 know whether they had worked
the huge 80O-pounder Armstrong, as the
question of the applicability of these huge
guns to hr6adside vessels Is exciting SO much
interest among naval men in England, and I
was told that they had TWENTY-FIVE men to each
gun, and that with that number they found no diff
1iealty in working them, but that Of course they
could not fire so readily as the smaller guns Upon
4he gan-deek the Re di Port0gsllo had suffered
no damage whatever, and no one would have
guessed from her appearance that only fortnight
had elapsed aimee she Yas engaged in q sanguinary
contest good many men were killed and
wounded from pieces Of shell which bursted at
the edge Of the port holes. The arTnor Of the Re
is composed Of 5.ineh iron upon 20 inches of wood
baeking. The sills of her portfolios are feet
inches out Of the water.
,aSt ss;taa A. 3.,,,o otl,ar .,,3irel, notoo4a5
vessaia tbe Foyreidsl;le and Tsrr;bla AZ 5yb;cb
4rad 5nI,v deacfibe fba FaTmer ~ ts1 ora i;i.a
s fss MI borsoosl - sna tba' D. 5sTtsla 's;sta
ebins - = Z = 'i.N s-e - s-9's.
ha ro.midai,tIsi Il tbp 5aessl ,vlieb sntarsd tl,a
y,arl,or q Tiss at Z sa M. ,d ~, ~ tI srs f
1nnre man an bor II Ssss fhsn tSree bnrdred
vsySs assSae@s lssg ~ tIsgors. sss;alY inta y
restng ~ sysc;.ns, ~ tbe ofect h;c6 sbots