Norwich bulletin., 1921-03-12

From about a. m. to p. m these two | iroh-mailed sea warriors fought giving | and taking hard knocks. The Merritpac | suffered the moro from the impact of the heavy shot of the Monitor, fired at range dlonGslde. and had it been possible to place her shots twice in the same spot the walls e the Merrimac would have been caved in. Az 1t was, the sloping sides of this vessels superstructure caused many of the shots to glance, the effect being diverted by the angle of the slope. In the same way the curved sides 1 of the Monitors turret gave no spot
 where the Merriniac's heavy bolts would pierce and the duel became stalemate,
 with the advantage on the side of the
 Monitor, which being smaller, was more
 easily handled, and her guns better served.
 At 2 o'clock the duel had ended. The two giadiators withdrew to their original
 stations, never to meet in combat again,
 nor ever to be in battle again. The Mer-
 dimac was destroyed May 10. 1882, when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk, and
 the Monitor was lost while on the way to
 Beaufort, s. C., Dec. sl, 1862, foundering
 in sea against which her structure was 1 impeffectly provided. =. | So served and passed these. two remark able vessels The engagement marked an l epOCa m tue albIOTy OL Ino SINu war anu the service of the ''Cheesebox on raft undoubtedly saved the destruction of the remaining vessels and the intended raid
 on the northern ports
 | The service done by these two vessels
 to naval development was remarkable and 1 important. At once the entire plan of naval architecture was changedA Great Britain immediately recognized the i'm portance of the battle and the develop
 ment of the two types of vessel so effec- lively tested, and was ready at once to "scrap" her great fleet of wooden-walls,
 and begin the construction of the modern iron-clad. The day of the frigate and the
 three-decker ended in the smeke of the burning Congress, and amid the clang of
 iron shot on iron sides. Henceforth the
 beauty and impressiveness of the ship
 with her rows of teeth" under cloud of
 snowy, swelling canvas was to be mat
 ter of the past, as obsolete as the ships of Drake or Columbus. Now the dignity and impressiveness of warship was to
 be measured by her iron walls and her
 huge guns.
 ! The scene of the battle between these
 two dissimilar but effective types of sea- , fighters bears no monument The waves and the currents of Hampton Roads are
 swept north and south by the changing . winds. Only one flag flies where two waved that March morning, and the two |, vessels have vanished from the sea, living only in history.
 On the decks of the modern battleships and represented in idea in sponsons a.o curved ports, is the turret of the Moni. , tor, the peculiar characteristic of the ! original vessel that gave her such a pre-. : ponderance of power in that strange duel ! It is true that the turret has changed if ! form from the "cheesebox'' design. |
 has been eliptical; 1t has been horse-shoI shaped with a sloping side (the side o the Merrimac) where the guns protrude
 and where shots are expected to fall bu no matter what the design, the turret il
 there because the Monitor proved that
 turret was the most effectfve position fl :, which to place ships guns to have then constantly under control and capable o ' iniiicting the most damage on the ad vcrsary because they are grouped. f The naVies of the world are peculiar il o their traditions and customs. The wid : collar on the seaflan's shirt remains though the grease-slushed queue has lon, . beeh forgotten. The American man-o' . wars man wears a black neckerchief be cause the British sailor put it on as t badge of mourning for Lord Nelson; tn ;. three white braids on his collar are s.mi h larly adopted in token of memory of Mel n son's victories at Copenhagen, the Battl .I of the Nile and Trafalgar He has take "a a. star from the flag and put 1t in eacl a corner of that queue-guarding collar, an V he holds to sope other peculiar ideas '. which other services share but the battl n between the Monitor and the MerrimaC 7. the morning of Sunday, March g. fifty s nine years ego, is remembered and me n inorialized by all the great battleships . |. the worlds navies without regard to na :. ton, recognized as introducing the great m est improvements and reforms in tn 1t structure of fighting ships since ship
 lwere built.