The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-03-21
In the Monitor" Turre..

The late Commodore :. D. Greene, ir of the sght between the Monitor and Merrimac, from which we quote the fol lowing:
 "The drawbacks to the position of the pilot-house were soon fealixsd. We could not fire ahead nor within several points of the bow. since the blast from our own guns would have injured the people in the pilot-house. only tew yards oH. keeler and Toffey passed the captains orders and messages 10 me, and my inquiries and answers to him, the speaking-tabe from the pilot-house tc the turret having been broken early in the action. They performed their work with seal and alacrity, but both being iandsmcn out technical commune ai,ons sometimes miscarTied. The situation was novel: vessel of war vas engaged in A desperate combat with q powerful foe 1; the captain, commanding and guid. ing all, vas inclosed in one place, and the executive officer, working and Sighting the guns, was shut up in another, and communication between them was difh cult and uncertain. It was this exper. fence which caused Isaac Newton, i'm mediately after the engagement to sug' gest the clever plan of putting the pilot house on top of the turrel. making Il cylindrical instead of square: and his suggestions were subsequently adopted in this type ot vessel.
 As the engagement continued, the working of the surret was not altogether satisfactory. It was difficult to star. li revolving, or, when once started, to siop it, on account of the imperfections of the novel machinery, which was nov under going it's first trial Sinners was an active, muscular man, and did hts utmoss to control the motion of the turret; but in spite of his efforts, it was difficult n no' impossible to secure accurate fising. The conditions were very dsffsTsn; from those of an ordinary broadside gun, under which VIC had been trained on woode | ships. My own view of the world out side of the tower vas over the muf1les ol the guns, which cleared the ports by [ few inches only. When the guns ware run in, the port-holes were covered by heavy iron pendulums, pierced with small holes, to allow the iron hammer ans sponge handles to protrude while they were in use. To hoist these pendulums required the entire gun's crew and vastly increased the work inside the turret.
 "The effect upon one shut up in a re volving drum is pe,plsxing, and it is mol a simple matter to keep the bearings White marks had been placed upon the stationary deck immediately below the turret to indicate the direction of the starboard and port sides, and the boS and stern but these marks were obliter. ated early in the action. would con. Merrimac beari' He replied, On the .tarboard beam or 'On the port. guar. ter as the case might be. Then ths difficulty was to determine the direction of the starboard. beam, or port quarter or any other bearing. lt finally resulted that when gun was ready for 6nng. the turret would be started on its revolving journey in search of the target, and when found it was taken on the fy,' becaus< the turret could not be accurately con- trolled. Once the Merimac tried 10 ram us bu, Wogden avoided the direct i'm pact by skiiful use of the helm, and she struck glsncing blow, which did nc damage. At the instant of collision planted a solid one-hundred. and -cig gh,y. pound shot fair and square upon the for ward part of her casenate. Had the gun been loaded with thirty pounds oi powder, which was the charge subse. quepty used with similar guns, it Ii probable that this shot would have pene- trated her amor but the charge being limited to fifteen pounds, in accordance with peremPtory orders to that effect from the navy department, the shot re- bounded without doing any more dam- age than to possibly starr some of she beams of her armor-bzcking."