The Portland daily press., 1869-12-29
DAILY PRESS
Wednesday Morning, December 20, 1869.
Description of the "Monnrcho and d G
s'Plymouth.o
PORT.'LAND .

1
| ssPIymouth.o
| A correspondent of the Boston Journal
who has just visited the Navy Yard at Ports
mouth, England, furnishes the following de-
scripton of the vessels which bear the re-
mains of Mr.. Peabody to this country:
At one of the docks, on the morning of my
visit, lay long, strong iron-clad ship, paint
ed in dun color of mourning. The two ex-
| traordinary turrets in her centre mark her as
a war vessel; but the American and English
| flags, 1uttering together at half-mast, prove
| her mission one of sorrow. This beautiful
engine of war-made at once to defy the ele-
ments and hostile human powers-is tri-
| umph of human ingenuity. Her model is
| much finer than that of most battle ships
| and even landsman can see that she is love-
| ly. She was built about three years ago, and
| has been on Cne or two cruises; but the voy-
| age she is about to make to America is really
| the first time she will have crossed the Allan
| tic. In size, the vessel is not imposing-not
| being longer than the American flagship
Franklin. She is $40 feet long and 50 feet
beam; has tonnage of 5102 tons, and the
power of 1900 horses. Her armament con-
sists OF seven guns. Four of these, weighing
twenty five tons each, are in the turrets, and
three of six and half tons each, are in diff
| iClCuG pdlto vi lut NtSSci. lUe tremendous
turrets are twenty-six feet over all diameter,
| and twenty-five inside; the armor plating on
| the engaged side is ten feet thick; on the dis
+ engaged, eight. The armor plating protect
ing the battery is seven inches thick. The
weight of the shot thrown from the four 12-
inch rifled guns which are enclosed in the tur-
rets is six hundred pounds, and sixty seven
pounds of powder are required for each dis
| charge Chief Constructor Pond of the Eng
Itch btIlt tbic in tl,a H.,
dock yards, and considers it his greatest work.
The fall speed of the Monarch-a subject
which will be much called in question on both
sides, after her out and return trip-is said to
be 14.97 knots, although this is suspected of
being what is called to the measured mie,"
and her half speed is reckoned at IL knots.
Although the Monarch had been visited by
thousands she was in cleanest condition, and
the five hundred men on board her were 60
ing through their drill on deck, or attending
to their duties below, with as much care and
decorum as though at sea. A midshpman
was soon detailed to accompany a small party
over the ship, and we went down to see the
mausoleum, which is in the stern of the vessel,
on the second deck, and in the extensive
room usually occupied by the captain. 1t is
spacious room, hung in rich black velvet,
| with white silver cord, setting off the drapery
in bold relief and the walls covered with an
elegant monogram, sc. p" The whole pro-
duces very solemn and subdued effect-the
colors being emphatically those of mourning
rather than magnifcence. In the centre
stands the raised platform on which the cask-
ct will be placed, and around which candela-
bras are arranged. AT the entrance of this
mortuary chapel stands an immense cannon,
which will remain in its usual position, point
ing to the room where the dead man iies.-
Not far from this chapel is a splendid cabin,
To hn1x oil .1x.xx, ~e
dead benefactOr, who will cross the Atlantic
on the Monarch. The body will remain in
the chapel during the whole voyage. Even
| in rough weather it is thought there will be no
need Tor more precautions than are already
| taken.
| Thousands in America will visit the Mon
| arch after the funeral ceremonies for the dead
| friend OF two nations are over, actuated by
| curiosity to see the prime war vessel of so
powerful navy as that of England. Her
| turrets will excite most attention in America.
They differ essentially from those on Yankee
| iron-clads, although they are of course, mod
| eled in some degree after Ericsson's patent
| They have the same carriage, the same in
| geniOus machinery to guard against recoil
But they have rejected the system of having
the system of having the turrets turn on a
central pivot, and have them mounted on cir
cular platforms, OH which they turn by
wheels on round track, and this platform
reposes on stationary one, on the deck be-
low. Whether this will operate better than
% our 5 system 81 ok kq4Hp qsp gft and It IS impossible to
| tell how such turrets would operate, should
| the decks be knocked little out cf line or a
| few heavy shots be battering the towers
| sides. There is one new invention which 1t
will pay all our engineers to examine; and
| that is the method OF taking elevations. They
| gain, by an ingenious contrivance, an eleva-
| tion of 16 feet, by depressing the trunnions.
| This plan, we are told, had worked admirably
| during the forty or fifty times the gun had
been fired. The two guns in each turret are
both fired at one pulling of cord. The shot
| are hoisted by machinery into the guns, and
both turrets are worked by steam engines,
| which have splendid engineers. The vessel
| throughout is designed to illustrate the tri-
umph of machinery, save in the important
exception of the sailing gear.
The "Monarch" is built in three water.tight
compartments, with double bottom. She
| draws % feet of water forward and 25 IL
feet aft. The height of her upper deck from
the wafer line is IA 1-2 feet, ard between
decks there is a height of ten feet. All the
cabins are luxuriously large and furnished
with every comfort of home. The means Of
light and ventilation also much superior tc
those in older ships. Between decks it j.
very nearly as light as the main deck; ant
in the marine mess the arrangements 70
cooking, storage of garments, ETC., are admir-
able. A novelty in the shape OF steam steer
ing apparatus is exciting much attention
among such of our navy officers as are here
The Monarch's full complement is 525 men
but she will sail with 500. Our people will b.
afforded an opportunity to see an admirabl!
organized body OF marines. The pIincipa
officers are as follows: Captain John E. Com
merell, C. B. V. c.; Commander, Arthur c
Curtis; Lieutenant, Edward Pilkington; Stai
i Commander, William H. Drysdale. Their
are eight engineers and the usual quantity o
midshipmen and officers Of marines. ..
The corvette Plymouth is an infant besd
giant, compared with the Monarch. She i
on her first cruise, and has displayed extraor
dinary steaming qualities in the Mediterran
can. She carries almost as much coal as tn
Monarch and can steam very nearly, if no
quite as fast, (Q E. d. say the Englishmen.
The Plymouth has only 191 men, exclusive Q
officers, and carries but ten guns. Her ton
mage is 1730, and she can steam between
and IA knots per hour. She draws Is feet {
water aft when full of COAL She was built i
New York, and her guns are one 60-pounde
Parrott, one eleven inch Dahlgren and 81
eight inch Dahlgren shell guns. Capt. Wi
liam H. Macomb is commanding, and th
Lieutenant commanders Cyrus Wilson. Th