The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-03-07
Old LINERS DIED HARD



top and sides were heavily plated to
\ send tile shot glancing OF. She car
i ried but one gun. being intended for
ranming with either of her sharp ends,
She was worked by powerful pro
peller, and the engine could eject
steam and scalding water over her en-
tire surface to repel borders This
vessel was the most terrible Of Farra-
1 CUTS antagonists when he attacked the
New Orleans forts in April. 1862, and
i she like the Eads gunboats, owed her
existence solely to private enterprise.
She had been built under the law for
priyateering but after she had cleared
the Federal ships out of the mouth of
the Mississippi the Confederate gov
eminent bought her to aid In the de-
i Tense of the forts.
il AS matter Of fact, taking 1t all in
Iall, the honors were even with the OPP
posing ironclads when it came to ma
neuvering and fighting. The Eads
ships were light in the water but their
armor was of no more account against
heavy missiles than turtles shell
against buckshot. The Confederate
ships could turn any shot in the Fed
eral navy, but they were as clumsy
as Noah's ark. The little Monitor
could turn the enemy's shots and was
SO constructed that she lodged around
the foe like pygmy around a giant,
but when forced to encounter heavy
seas she went to the bottom.
i Even when building the iron plated
a ships of war the projectors were slow
to give up the notion that stout timbers
We're the main thing for the bulwarks
Of a fighting ship. The bow or fighting
end of the Eads gunboat was made Of
solid oak twenty four inches thick, COW
cred with the thin iron plating The
thin iron shield sometimes proved a
drawback. While she'll or a solid ball
would often pierce the stoutest timbers
that could be put into d ships sides, it
would only hit the objects directly In
the line Of its flight, but shot OBJ
structed by the plating would tear
through the wood backing Of the plate
| and hurl great splinters around the
Il decks, disabling numbers of the fight
ing crow.
II Ii was natural in the situation In the
early stages of the war that the Con-
! federates should pin their faith upon
iron armor and the north cling to the
wooden ships. The south was on the
defensive and risked everything upon
the salvation Of It's harbors and coasts
Il Even at Charleston in the Fort Sumter
days the Confederates had iron batter
les. The Merrimac and Louisiana were
monster floating batteries, the Manas-
sas monster battering ram. The news
OF the building Of these war vessels
was received by northern sailors with
smiles Of contempt They expected to
i outsail them and thus to outmaneuver
and Outright them. This prejudice was
not overcome all through the war, and
there was experience to back it up.
] Within a few years before the war
the United States government had
strengthened the navy by the addition
Of eighteen steam war sloops and frig-
ltes which had no superiors on the
ocean. They were wooden, of course,
hut We're moved by screw propellers SO
constructed that all the machinery was
lsbelow the water line. All of them
made splendid records during the war
with the exception Of the AIerrimac,
which was burned at Norfolk and rails
ed aud converted by the Confederates
INTO the ram. Farragut had the Brook
i lyn and then the Hartford in his bat
ties for the flagship, and the Richmond
was also in his fleet of fighters. Be
sides these three, the Niagara, Colorado,
j Wabash, Pensacola, Pawnee, Mohiean,
lroquois. Wyoming and Seminole were
crack ships Of the best fleets during the
hottest sea lights.
\ Swift sailing was a necessity for the
northern navy at the outset, and her
captains never lost sight of the fact,
hence kept their faith in the wooden
ship propelled by steam. 1t was well
they did. because the labor and delay
OF creating ironclads made it impossi-
bic to have an armored fleet during
the war. The first task was to estab-
llsh a blockade along thousands Of
miles of seacoast and to have ships
] which could chase blockade runners
"f.tN% AAesAtl thNAtA VII oiSAl. 4G Heal
problem was to maneuyer and fight In
front Of Notifications. While guns
and resisting power would be good
thing once ship was within range of
fort, yet the ability to get in or away
quickly when necessary was just as
much to be desired. The Eads iron
Iclads barely saved themselves by back
Ting rapidly out from the fire at Donel-
lson.
| Although the Federal wooden ships
went down before the southern iron
clads in every fair fight. the northern
ship commanders never lodged the or.
deal Following the example set by
the Merrimac early in 1862, the Con-
\ federate ram Arkansas liz 1868 and the
! Albemarle In 1864 dashed into the
wooden ships Of the enemy and sent
them to the bottom. But there were
more wooden hulls left to keep up the
| fight. and scores Of brave captains
lrisked destruction rather than lower
the flag before any craft afioat. Even
when the missiles Of the wooden ships
rolled from the iron armor of the rams
the gallant captains attempted to ride
down their antagonists with their SUI
perior velocity. At Mobile bay, in