Wilmington journal., 1874-01-02
from the Baltiin IRE Gazette.
THREE CONFEDERATE VESSELS.

rzRa: csENEslHEAC. TEE Hasss-
yEgLE ANs 1zEE PATRICK HEN
ssX-'CEaE > {; "a = Va nENE ..E
Ezsnk piE0< ssCS CSas-zNEEIsESE-
ssGtNG TAva:. EE,.sxsscEN-
CE~. !
Recently .t5,luna. 7 Thomas SciIarf, |
resident Of tbis cFy and the author !
OF Il History Of Baltimore, now IN |
toricai Society pictures Of three Con !
fedcraIe vessels, viz: The Mcrrimac, |
or Virginia No. /, the steamer Nash i
Vile. and tie naval scholarship Patrick |
Henry. .he presentation was accom- !
panied with . history Of the vessels, |
written by Coiopel Scharf, who Was
appointed to tia Confederate Navy
from Maryla,p,! fnr gallant londnct at
Cedar Run auu CL1nceilorsyiLle, IN
boil, Of which. actions he was wounded.
The paper stated that the pictuye.of
the Merri1naC Was drawn by al onGl-
neer en- beard CT her, and is taken IS
she appeared on the stocks before be-
ING launched: Ihe Nashville was
drawn BY Clarence Z. Carey. late Of
Baltimore, one Of her midahiplnen,
and the Patrick Henry was drawn by
Colonel Scharf, while serving on board
of this vessel. The paper proceeds to
give q sketch Of tho vessels, from
which the following is condensed
THE c1ERRIMAC.
Tho steamship Merrimac was built
at Charlestown, Mass, in 1855, was OF
3. 900 tons burtllen, and carried forty
large guns. At the destruction
of the Norfolk Navy Iark al the com
mencemcnt of tho war she had been
burned and sunk, and her engines
greatly damaged by the Fed
era'ists. The bottom OF the hull,
boilers and heavy costly parts Of the
engine We're but little injured, and it
was proposed of them to construct q
cascmated vessel with inclined iron
plated sides and submerged ends.
The novel plan of submerging the ends
T Of the slip and the caves OF the case
mcnt was the peculiar and distinctive
features OF the Virginia, as the new
structure WAS called. When sic was
| completed her engines, of 510-horse
| power, were below the water line
| When ;,foat, she presented only :, roof
| above the water. composed of oak
| twenty-eigist inches thick. covered
six inches OF plate and railroad iron.
| Sle had al apparatus for throwing hot
| water on hoarders. Her armament
consisted of eight ,ifed guns. Six
eight Founders were on her sides and
| one ut her bow, and another at her
! stern threw a one hundred pound
solid shot or one hundred and
twenty pound shell, and these guns
| had three ports, which enabled her to
give loroadside Of FIVE guns. She
| had furnaces for heating shot Her
! crew consisted Of ten lieUtenants and
! $50 picked men. Under water there
w:ss wedge-shapcd Prov CT oak and
iron thirty-tEree feet long. Commo-
dore Franklin Buchanan. OF MARYLAND.
commanded her. and the second i'll
commend was Catesbv Jones, both
men OF skill and courage Nj. John
l.. Porter WAS the nava! constructor Of
| the vessel.
HER EXPLOITS ~ HAMPTON ROADS.
The N:rginia within eight aud forty
hours on the Stb and 9Th OF March,
1862. successfully encountered the
whole l.&Ial force Of tLc cl.Cmv iii the
ncigh5urhoo,i ii Norfolk. amounting
- =, $50 men ami 25O guns. EaI sunl,
the Cumberland. had destroyed the
f.igate COu@rcSs, and mad crippled the
Minnesota. ono Of the best stcamvla Of
the iCtIct,.! I4.,Vr. The Confederate
loss were two killed and nineteen
wounded, and size came out of tie
action with tie loss Of her prov star
board anchor and Eii lcr boats. with
l.er smokc-siac!, and yentilators rid
died with balls. and Tie muzzlys of ;wo
Of her guns shot away, but vithcur
! II
arnor. The paper then proceeds to
give al account Of the effect Of the OK
pertinent upon naval architecture i'll
this country arI Europe. and pro
ceedi 20 state li,at tie Virginia was
destroyed By orders of ler c0mu1an-
der. Commodore Jatuall, on th9
! morning O. thc nth u May, 1852, n
TIE vicinity of CraHcy Island.
TIT NasT3yI.y.E
Ihc Nashville was q -i.;e-oilcel
stoa:ncr of 500 tons burden, and was
built 1t Ncw York IN 1851 She he
.onqti to Messrs. Spoftord. riiesiol
!: Co, OF the Charleston i;no, ;,t2,i Tas
very fast. She made her last trip to
Charleston from New York. arriving
off the bar April i, 1851, while
the b3mbardnent Of Sumter was IL
Z HIC1LE--., ILLl C1ttl ILS CGllEtllIt tJll
Capt. Murray ran her III, ana she was
seized by the Confederata author;t;es.
She esca. ed the bloch2tIcto sea, and
r2u into Beaufort. \. c, OF thc :.et1
OF February, 1852, loaded Will, Con
federato military s@oIee, valued at uY.r
So. 900, 900 ant afterwaGd eiudeu 4
strict watch and went to sea, She Lad
several times ran between Dcrmuda
and Charleston with 3 contra;and car
SO, and making important captures ot
the enemy ships each time, she en-
! tered the Great OGaeChce river, GcOc-
gia, and was so completely hemr2ed IL
by Admiral Dupont's squadron that
she could not escape, and she was Il
nally destroyed on ghc 27th OF Eebru
ary, 1868, by The Monitor Montauk,
commanded by J. l.. Worden, who
commanded the ilon-clud monitor in
the Hampton Roads fight anovo aiIu
ded to. In trying to make her escape
she grounded near Fort McAllister
and few shells from the Montaui
exploded in several places. and in less
than twenty minutes she was IN flames
which soon communicated to the mag.
azine, which exploded with terrific vi
olence shattcring her into smoky
ruins
THE PATRICK HENRY.
The steamer Yorktown, after ward!
called the Patrick Henry, was one o
the old line Of side-wheel steamers be
tween New York and Richmond, seizei
by the Confederatcs at the beginning
OF the war and converted into q wal
ship mounting ten heavy guns. Sht
was in the Hampton Roads engage
; nent, but escaped without much inju
~, except one shot which passc(
,, through one of her boilers, scalding T,
death four persons and woundine
others.
BOLD ACHIEVEMENT.
! On the second visit of the ConfeIe
! rate naval fleet to Hampton Roads, ol
: the l1th of April, 1862. the Patricl
Henry steamed rapidly along tht
beach. skirting from Newport News t.
Hampton and captured, amidst The
/ Federal feet, without firing a gun
three smiling vessels, two brigs and ,