Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1894-09-28
THE FIRST IRONCLADS.
THE GERM CAME CENTURIES
BEFORE THE MONITOR.

BEFORE THE MONITOR.
a Harbor- Defense Vessel Like the Circu-
lar Russian Monft ors-MetaI Eam-Bow
of the Ancient Greeks The Historic
Dutch Ironclad.
The modern ironclad probably had
it's origin in the very beginning of
the century and in the brain Of that
great statesman and engineer,
Colonel John Stevens. He, in 1912,
or earlier conceived the idea Of con-
structing an iron plated vessel-of-
war with saucer shaped hull, pro-
PEELED by screws SO arranged that
direction as well as forward motion
could be given them. The battery
was to be of the heaviest ordnance
of the time, and the plating heavy
enough to resist the shot of similar
guns at short range. The main pur-
pose of the ship was the defense of
our harbors, and the plan of action
was to moor the ship by a chain
leading down through the bottom of
the vessel at its center, and to spin
the craft around this center, firing
gun after gun as it came in line OF
fire, thus anticipating the later Tim
by turret which, IL turn, was the
germ Of the modern ssmonitor' iron
G ad. Such vessel was actually
built, a half century later. by the
Russian government. and the Pop
offska is tle contemporary represen-
tative of the first Stevens battery.
The metal ram bow was familiar
in the days OF the ancient Greeks.
The inscriptions on stone, unearthed
in the Pireus in 1884, gave us in
formation that three-b banked war
vessels were in use several centuries
before the Christian era, and that
about 431 B. c. The size and pro-
portions of these vessels were given
in great detail in this ancient
record. and, among other data, the
weight of iron required for the ram.
1t is an interesting and curious fact
that the old Greeks and Romans, as
we'll as the old Scandinavians, had,
before the dawn of the historical
period, apparently learned the best
forms for their ships and had
adopted the very proportions adopt
ed by nature herself when endeavor-
ing to secure high speeds. This
proportion was about seven or seven
and half times the breadth of beam
for the length Of the ship on the
water line.
The first ironclad actually laid
down was the Stevens battery of
1912. designed by Robert L. Stevens
in consultation with his father, Col
onel John Stevens, and under con
tract with the United States &overn-
ment for "a war steamer for ssrbor
defense shot and shell-proof. to be
built principally of iron" The ship
was never completed. The first IRON
clads actually built and employed In
warfare were those of the French
navy. OF 1854, the Devastation, the
Lave and the Tonnage, which did eff
fective work in the Crimean war. be-
side the ships OF the British fleet.
The French built the Gloire III 1868.
and the British ship Warrior was
ordered in 1859. Ironclads have
since that date been admitted the
only really formidable war vessels
Without them it is doubtful whether
the operations OF our own navy dur
ing the civil war could have been
successful This is the authentic
history of the ironclad of our day.
According to some authorities the
Dutch were the first in the modern
period of history to build an iron
clad, and it is said that during the
siege of Antwerp by the Spaniards
in 1885, the people of that city built
an enormous flao- bottomed vessel
armo.'ed it with heavy iron plates,
and thus constructed what they re-
garded as an impregnable battery,
which they named Finis Belli. I'm
fortunately, the vessel got aground
before fairly in action. and fell into
the hands OF the enemy. 1t was
held by Alexander OF Parma to the
end of the siege, as a curiosity, but
was never employed by either side
in any action.
It is not at all certain, however,
that any modern. engineer or inyen-
tor can claim to have had the first
conception OF an iron-clad ship, says
Cassier's Magazine. Curiously
worded sentences in early literatures
OF all nations Indicate, often, the
possession of modern ideas at time
when ii was utterly imnosible to
carry them into effect, in conse-
auence of the inability of the me-
chanics OF the time to perform the
work. The earliest of these which |
have as yet noted is to be found in
the ..sagas" OF Thorsteln, sup
posed pirate viking.
In this old story of Thorstein |
find the following bit OF possibly
authentic history of navies. The
story goes that Viking, son of Vifl
and Eimyria, is poisoned by drink
ing from the magic drinking horn of
Dis, sister of Harek and daughter OF
Kol, the former of whom had been
killed by Viking in a duel. receiving
a thrust from the irresistible sword
Angervadil The sea king, become
the leprous victim of Dis. sails for
home and meets on his way another
powerful viking, Halfdan, who be-
comes his friend and endeavors to
aid him in his effort to in turn se-
cure vengeance upon Dis OF this
g eat captain the tradition says:
..HoIfdan had q GREAT drnp0n