The National tribune., 1907-08-15

Mr.. Smith will send a trial box. also
it was left stationary. and the ship was
fought and the guns pointed by the
| helm.
| After fighting for two hours, the
Monitor hauled off to hoist shot into the
turret. At 1880 the engagement was
| renewed. The enemy now concentrated
his fire on the pilot-house, which was
the weakest part of the vessel At a
moment when Worden was looking
thru one of the openings a shell struck
the wall at the opening. and exploded.
| The explosion fractured one of the iron
logs of the frame, and lifted halfway
off the iron hatch that rested insecurely
on the top. Worden's eyes were fillet,
with powder and slivers of iron and he
was blinded and stunned. Blind as he
was, he could see the stream of light
from the roof. and unable to determine
the extent of the injury, he had the
/ presence of mind to give orders to put
the helm to starboard and sheer off.
With the Captain disabled and the
| Quartermaster dazed by the shock, it
was some minutes before the word was
passed to the turret of the disaster in
| the pilot house. When Greene came
out and passed forward he found the
| Captain at the foot of the ladder.
stunned and helpless. his face black and
| iSlTedINlilS WIFI Leaving MIN
the Surgeon, Greene mounted to the
pilot house. while Sinners replaced him
in the turret: and the vessel, during
| these moments of unavoidable DELAY
| had been without Captain. and steam
| ing no one knew whittier, once more
| faced the enemy. Seeing the Monitor
! draw off, Van Brunt, under the suppo-
sition that his protector was disabled
and had left him. prepared for the
worst, and made ready to destroy his
ship. But at this point the Merrimac
| withdrew to Norfolk. AS she moved
| off Greene fired at her twice. or at most
| three times.
Victory at Last.
To the excited Union sailors and SOL
| diers, who had been watching the ter
rific battle for anxious hours. the sight
of the Merrimac limping away brought
unbounded joy
ward. with the Confederates claim
ing that she had really won the vic
tory, with the Monitor driven out of
the fight, and that the Merrimac only
retired, as she did the day before, be-
cause the tide was falling, and would
soon prevent her getting over the bar.
| Undoubtedly, for some minutes after
the injury to Lieut.. Worden and the
Quartermaster the Monitor went about
rather wildly, and ii was some little
time before Lieut.. Greene could be
brought from the turret the extent of
the vessels injuries ascetained and she
be brought back into the fight. 1t is
undeniable that as soon as the Merri-
mac saw her returning she retreated.
| 1t was decided defeat for the Mer-
rimac, because she was prevented from
doing what she had come out to do, and
she retreated under the fire of her an
tagonist. Neither vessel was so seri-
LON 81 II ritIrn fn mn Ianr ant of ,n
tight. The Merrimac retired under her
own steam, but it is claimed that she
was leaking SO badly that she was not
lit for service for several days, while
the Monitor was as fit as ever the next
day.
The Monitor had been struck 81
times, eight times on the side armor,
twice on the pilot house, seven times
on the turret and four times tn deck.
The deepest indentationS on the sides
We're four inches, on the turret two
linches, and on the deck one inch.
! Upon her return to Norfolk the Mer-
riInac was found to have 81 indenta-
tions upon her armor, of which 20
were recognizable as having been made
by the Monitors 11-inch guns. These
had broken the top layer of plates in
six places. but had not reached the
woodwork beneath. Everything outside
| her armor was riddled.
1 AS the ordnance return showed that
the Monitor only fired Al shots, almost
exactly one-half of them struck her
Antagonist, which was remarkably fine
/ practice.
| Possibilities.
/ Now comes the inevitable eff" If
the Monitors crew had not been re-
stricted to 15 pounds of powder as a
charge they would have crushed in the
Merrimac's sides in a few rounds. Aft
with entire safety in the 11-inch guns
weapons. and Admiral Dahlgren, their
inventor. was properly fearful of the
effect of bursting one of the immense
pieces in the narrow space of the tur-
ret. The cast-iron shot were very un-
satisfactory, as they wabbled and could
not be made to strike twice in the same
place. Wrought iron and bronze shot
had been provided, but they We're for
hidden to use them for fear their
| greater weight would burst the gun.
4 On the other hand, the Merrimac, ex-
| pecting to meet only wooden ships, was
1 only provided with shells. She needed
solid shot to use against the iron sides
of the Monitor.
| Tho no ship was destroyed or seri-
ously injured that day, all the navies
of the world were ruined All the world
Including the United States--had been
clinging to the splendid old sailing
ships Of the Trafalgar and Battle of the
Nile class. The Congress and the Cum
berland were fine specimens of this
class. Thenceforth sailing ships were
u TNl