The National tribune., 1907-08-15

made to believe that there was such a
ness all that should develop The Union
soldiers feared, and the Confederate
soldiers hoped for, the entire destruc-
ton of the Union fleet and the opening
of the waterway from the ocean to
RichIaond, the Capital of the COnfed-
eracy.
The Merrimac stood straight for the
Minnesota. and at a mile distant fired
a shot which struck the frigate squarely.
The Monitor. with her anchor up.
headed boldly for her antagonist. to the
intense astonishment of all. Lieut..
Worden had taken his position in the
pilot house with the Pilot and Quarter
master, while Lieut.. Greene and Chief
! Engineer Sinners, with 16 men, were
in the turret manning the two 11-inch
guns and the machinery for revolving
the turret. The remaining SO men of
the crew were at their stations in the
engine room. cockpit. and magazines.
The Merrimac checked her speed for
a moment like a spirited horse rearing
at the sight of a rattlesnake, aid then
sent an inquiring shot from her deadly
bow rifle at this new antagonist. This
bow rife was the one which had proved
so fatal to the Congress and the Cum
berland and SO injurious to the Mime
sofa. The small. round turret was,
however, quite ulllcTeHt licIii
the high, broad side of a frigate, and
the rifle shot spent its force on the
placid Spring air of Virginia. Lieut..
I.Worden had started out to fight, and
had no reason for postponfng for an in
stant the trial of strength between him
self and his competitor. He steered as
straight as he could for the terrible
monster, and arriving within short
range. stopped his engines and gave the
order, Begin firingi'' The eager men
who had waited in intense expectancy
for the beginning of their part triced
back the port covers instantly and the
1 11-inch guns delivered their awful blow
point blank against the Merrimac, who,
turning to bring her broadsides better
TO bear upon the turret. received this fire
Suuarely as she delivered her own. For
an instant both sides stopped to see
what the effect of their enemy's heav-
lest blow had been. The aim of the
Merrimac had been good. and the turret
had been heavily struck, but no shot
had penetrated, and the turret contin-
ued to revolve as freely as before. On
the other hand, the Monitors heavy
balls did not penetrate the iron slope
of the Merrimac. 1t was a standoff
thus far.
I Both sides were men of the highest
courage and intense determination to
destroy or be destroyed. Both were
encouraged by the way their respective
vessels had received their enemy's
severest blow. The only man hurt on
the Monitor was Acting Master Stodder,
VINO had carelessE leaned against the
turret. and was knocked unconscious.
i While his guns were reloading, and
the turret slowly revolving, Worden
ran close past the stern of the Merri-
mac hoping to disable her screw. but
missed it by a few feet. The Merrimac
took advantage of her path being clear
. for the moment to forge nearer the
Minnesota and fire q shell at her from
her deadly bow rifle, which struck the
frisate amidshps. tore four state rooms
into one and set her on fire. The Min
nesota responded with full broadside
and her 10-inch pivot. terrific blast
which Capt Van Brunt said would
have blown any wooden ship in the
world out of the water" 1t produced
no more effect than throwing stones
. against wall. The Merrimac sent a
, second SHE'LL which exploded the boiler
of the tug Dragon. alongside the Min
nesota, and the Minnesota sent another
awful broadside.
The Monitor had by this time re-
j, gained her position between the Merri-
mae and the Minnesota, and her H.
. inch shot were giving her enemy some
, thing else to think about. The Merri-
mac tried to get rid of her enemy by
ramming, but Worden saw the move
ment in time, and avoided its force by
a quick movement of the helm, so that
the momentum of the Merrimac's 5
mighty mass was spent in glancing
blow. The two desperate combatantS
were now so close to one another that
frequently their vessels touched. The
Monitor was firing once in eight min
utes, the Merrmac nearly twice as fast.
Chief Engineer Sinners had taken Stod-
der's place at the severe labor of turn
ing the turret.
Hard Lines In the Turret.
The situation in the turret was diff
ficult one. Shut up In a revolving iron
cask, on a moving platform, and cut
off from the Captain except thru slow
and imperfect communication by pass
ing the word, when minutes and even
seconds were important, Greene fought
under heavy disadvantages. The direc-
ton of the bow and stern of the star
board and port beam were marked on
the stationary flooring. but the marks
were soon Obliterated, and-after one or
!, two revolutions 1t was impossible to
guess at the direction of the ship or the
position of the enemy. The only open
ings thru which anything could be
seen were the gunports; and these were
cloesd except at the moment of firing,
as an entering shot would have disa-
bled the guns. Curiously enoughs nei-
ther the port-stoppers was struck, tho
the edges of the ports and the turret
wall between them were jagged and
dented by the Merrimac's shot. At
last the difficulties became SO great. the
revolutions were SO confusing, and the
mechanism governing the movements Of
i the turret 30 little under control that