The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-05-25
MONITOR AGAIN IN FAVOR.
Trpe OF Vessel Used i'm Civil War Re-
vived by British.

vived by British.
The idea of the monitor is not new.
it dates from the war Of secession IN
the American States, where the
States of the north employed vessels
sitting very close to the water, show
ing only low, armored hull, above
which rose a single turret carrying a
powerful gun.
This model was successful, and the
French navy thought that it should
possess some examples. We see at
Cherbourg, therefore, about 1880,
two of these monitors that had been
purchased from the United States un-
der the name of Rochambeau and
Onondaga. Since this time, however,
we have had no monitors.
Now they are in style again, and
their strange aspect is thus descr1D-
ed in picturesque terms, on October
20. 1915, by Ashmead Bartlett;
"The arrival of these vessels at the
Dardanelles on the Srd made a SEN
sation, not only among the enemy,
but also among our own troops. One
AFTERNOON, a floating object of extra
ordinary aspect appeared at the en-
trance of the port of Kefhalos. 1t
seemed that instead of proceeding in
q straight line, it reached it's anchor
age in zigzag lines, dancing about like
q great goose. At a certain distance
It was impossible to say whether one
wash docking at it from the side, the
bow or the stern, so completely round
did it appear. It's parapets sustained
4 bridge, above which nothing was
visible but very large turrett, from
which protruded the muzzles of two
huge guns.
In the centre of the bridge rose
IKE a giant; of some California for
est tripod mast bearing at its end
q kind of oblong jewel box-an exact
replica, on very large scale, OF the
box wherein the Dalai Lama carries
about with him the ashes of his pre-
yious incarnation.
"Our first astonishment was fol-
lowed by another, when the crew pre-
pared to take a bath. 1t seemed as
If they were all able to walk on the
water. After having descended a
ladder, instead of getting into the
sea they proceeded to walk in single
file the length of their ship, and then,
standing elbow to elbow, they all
dived, to reappear shortly at the sur
face.
ssWe went out in boat to exam
inc this odd phenomenon and found
that just below the water the sides
:.of the ship bulged out slightly for
about ten feet, then curving inward
toward the keel, and thus forming
an exterior platform just awash.
ssHere lies the secret and the mys-
terry of these vessels. In this bulg-
ing, the builder has concentrated his
ingenuity to beat the submarine. If
torpedo strikes the hull it will ex-
plode amid a variety of substances
whose nature is unknown to me, but
which protect the hull against any
serious injury
Later, three other large monitors
arrived, which gave us eight four
teen-inch guns, besides large num-
ber Of smaller monitors Of all shapes
and sizes.
''The construction of these moni-
tors was undertaken to meet a new
need-that of vessels of powerful
armament, but practically safe from
submarine attack. It is to the credit
of the English navy to note that only
six months were required to draw
the plans of these ships and bring
them to the spot where they fired
their first Shots La Nature.