The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-03
Transient P~redominance
of the Monitor Type.

VI inc FTONltOf type.
+, There occurred. however, one singular de-
velopment, an alteration from the normal
line of advance, the chief manifestation OF
which. from local and temporary conditions.
was in our own country. This was the
transient predominance of the monitor
type and idea: the ironclad vessel, with
none but a very few very heavy guns,
mounted in one or two circular revolving
%turrets, protected by very heavy armor.
The monitor type embodied two ideas. The
first was the extreme of defensive power.
owing to the sIlallness Of the target and
the thickness of its armor, the hull OF the
vessel rising but little above the water.
the turret was substantially tho only tar
get. The second was an extreme compress
sion OF offensive power, the turret contain
Ing two Of the heaviest guns OF the day.
consequently guns of the heaviest penetra-
ton. which could fire. not in one direction.
nor in several. but in all directions as the
turret revolved. ard which were practically
the sole armament of the ship. The de-
fensive power Of the monitor was absolute
up to the extreme resisting endurance of its
arr1or. Its offensive power must be consid-
cred relatively to the target to which Its
guns were to be opposed. II much in ex-
cess Of that targets resistance, there was
waste Of power. Actually In our Civil War
monitors were opposed to fortifications. ex-
cept In one or two instances. when they
had to contend with the imperfect struct-
ures which the Confederates could put
afioat. Their gun power, therefore. was not
In excess of the target. Moreover. being
for coast warfare, the monitor then was
necessarily Of small draught and small ton
mage. Her battery weight. therefore, must
be small. and consequently lent itself to
concentration into two guns, just as the
battery weight of a schooner a century
since found its best disposition In one long
traversing gun.
This was the infancy period of the from
clad ship. The race between guns and ar
NOR was barely begun, and manufacturing
processes 'stIll were crude. AS these i'm
proved with astounding .rapidity. the sue
cessful production of rifled cannon OF ever
increasing dimensions and penetrative force
imposed an increased arino protection.
which at the first was obtained chiefly by
an increase of thickness. /. e.. of weight.
AS uns and armor got heavier. ships had
to be bigger to carry them, and, IL bigger.
OF course longer. But the monitor idea, ad-
mirably suited to small ships, had now fast
hold of mems minds-in England especially,
for the United States lapsed into naval SOM
Violence after the war-and 1t was carried
irref1ectively into vessels Of huge dimen-
sions whose hulls rose much above the
water. Weight for weight. the power of the
gun outstripped the resistance of armor,
and 1t soon became evident that even in
a large ship perfect protection could be
given only to a part of the structure. Pass
Ing over intermediate steps, the extreme
and final development of the monitor idea
was reached in the InfleXible. planned in
1876 by the British Admiralty. built in the
following years. and stiil In service. This
vessel was OF l1.SS0 tons displacement. She
was 800 feet long. and of that length only
the central 10 feet had protection, but that
was by armor two feet thick, while armored
partitions extended from each end of this
side belt across the vessel. forming a box
ITO feet long by "a broad. Within this box
were two %turrets. each with sixteen inches
of armor. and carrying two guns which
threw each q shell Of n ton weight.
The first monitor has been called an
e~poch-making ship, for she began an era.
The InfleXible was also epoch-making. for
she closed the era of the monitor pure and
simple. Upon a development of 800 feet of
length she carried only four gnus, of which
1T Is not too much to say hat their power
was very far in excess of almost all targets
that could be opposed to them. If, indeed.
her possible opponents could have carried
such an armor as her own all over their en-
posed surface. her guns would have been
no heavier than needed. and the fevness
case. Like herself. ships of 1900 tons must
have a penetrable target far exceeding in
surface the almost impregnable box she
presented. The unreasonableness of the re-
suit struck men at once. though, of course,
she had advocates. AS an exception such
q ship might pass; as a type. never.