Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-12-27
probably remain till the next heir of en-
tail succeeds TO the title.

THR DESTRUCTION or THE FRIGATE
NEW IRoYsIDRs by FIRE.-We have
already recorded the fact that this noble
vessel was destroyed by fire early on
Sunday morning, at League Island, Phil
adelphia. The following are the partlc'
ulars OF the event:
"The flames are said to have originated
near or In the engine room, by the up
setting of a stove, but tits impossible TO
obtain anything of definite character
until the matter is Investigated. One
of the watchmen stated that he and one
or two others endeavored to eXtinguish
the flames when they broke out. Find
ing that 1t was impossible to do so,
word was sent to the commanding off,
Ger, who dispatched courier to the
commandment at the navy yard, who Or
dered steam to be got up on the United
States tugboat Pilgrim. A detachment
of 40 marines were ordered on board,
and In less than an hour from the time
the courier arrived the tug was along
side the Inflated Ironsides. She imme-
diately commenced throwing streams OF
water upon the burning vessel, with but
little or no effect. In the meantime two
steam fire engines from Philadelphia had
arrived and commenced playing upon
the ship. The Ironsides was moored
about one hundred yards from the shore,
which increased the difficulties Of the
firemen and rendered them powerless to
save her. They labored hard, however,
and crowded the gangway leading to the
burning vessel till they were forced to
leave from the heat of the fire. At IL
O'Clock the flames shot up through the
flooring, and in less than three hours the
sides fell in and the famous war steamer,
together with her valuable machinery,
was reduced to shapeless mass OF
ruins.
The Ironsides was built at the yard
of Messrs. Cramp g. Sons in New York,
She was commenced in September 1861,
and launched May 16, 1862, and sailed
September %, 1862, for Charleston har-
Dor. Her dimension were as follows :
240 feet long, So IL feet beam, $500 tons
burden, sides of oak, 20 inches thick
| depth of hold, 25 feet; number of plates
go, each Is feet long by % inches wide
weighing 1000 pounds; whole weight
Of plates, 900. Her armament consisted
of 16 11-inch guns on the gun-deck anC
two 200 pound Parrot rifles on the spar
deck. She was propelled by two hori
zontal direct steam.engines, four boil
ers, 1000 horse power, and three masts
barque rugged. The cost of the vessel
without machinery or armament, was
! $750,000, with machinery and armament
$1,125,000, The loss cannot fall short o
100000.
Upon receiving her armament she wa
put in commission, and was ordered t
Port Royal, South Carolina, at which
port she arrived in the month Of Janu
airy. From there she was sent t.
Charleston, under command of Captain
Thomas Turner, and was used by Ad
miral Dupont as his flagship. On tn
9th of April, 1868, she participated il
the attack on Fort Sumter, and passet
through the engagement without re
ceiving any material damage, althoug
; repeatedly struck by the rebel shells
III the two attacks on Fort Wayne
July IS and August II Of the same yea
the New Ironsides took a conspicuou
part, and added greatly in the reductio
. of that fort. On the 18th and 9Th of Ser
TENDER following, she bombarded Fol
Moultrie, firing $50 shells the first da
and 483 on the next. On the 9th of o.
tober the rebel torpedo steamer Davi
attempted to blow her up while at al
: Choir off Charleston harbor. The a
tempt was made at 9 o'clock in tn
: night, but failed from the rebel office
exploding the torpedo before it was we
under the vessel. Although conside
ably Jared by the shock, she receive
no further injury than lay in the loss I
!. her bulkhead. The torpedo vessel ws
U sunk by the vast volume of water whic
thrown up by the explosion, fell upc
), her. Some time before this attempte
i destruction, Rear Admiral Rowan, the
I captain, was placed in command of I'll
Ironsides, relieving Capt. Turner. SIM
s the close of the war she was laid up
League Island"