Year: 1866

The Navy Department has received
dispatches from Captain Fox, Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, dated at Queens
town on the 10th inst, announcing the
arrival there on that day of the iron clad
Miantonomoh and her conserts, the Au
gusta and the Ashuelot, after a run of
ten days and eighteen hours from st.
Johns. hejoutnal shows that the trip
was pleasant one, without either acci.
dent or incident of special interest,
though the vessels experienced sumo
wind on the second and third days out.
The iron clad was net iu the least dis
turbed by the wind or seas, though the
other vessels rolled from ten to twenty
five degrees. In one of his letters, Cap
tain Fox discusses the sea going fighting
capacity of the iron-clads, and as bis re-
marks and conclusions are of general in.
terest an extract is subjoined:


Can the monitor style of iron-olads
invented by Captain Ericsson be so
constructed as TO be made efficient
fighting sea-goiug cruisers2 The facts
with the regard to the behavior of this
vessel in a moderate gale of wind and
heavy sea when frigate would find it
impossible to use her battery, are as fol
lows: With head to the sea she takes
over about four feet of selid water which
is broken as it sweeps along the deck,
and after reaching the turret IS too
much spent to prevent firing the fifteen
inch guns directly ahead; with broad
side to the sea, either at rest or while
moving, her lee guns can always be
worked without difficulty, the water
which passes across the deck from wind.
ward being divided by the turrets, and
her extreme roll 50 moderate as not to
press her lee guns near the water, lying
in the same position, her tifteen-inch
guns can be fred directly astern without
interference from water, and when stern
to the sea, the water which comes on
board is broken up in the same manner
as when going head to it In the trough
of the sea her ports will be liable to
flooding, if required to use her guns to
windward. This, then. would be the
position selected by an antagonist
which designed to fight monitor IN
sea-war The turret guns OF O monitor
occupy a central position, where not
withstandipg the lowness Of the vessels
hull, they are more easily and safely
handled in sea.way, than guns
of the same height above the
water in broadside vessel. The axis OF
the bore.of the guns of this vessel
are six and half feet above the water,
and the extreme lurch, when lying
broadside to heavy sea in moderate
gale, was seven degrees to windward,
and four degrees to leeward, average,
five and half degrees, while the aver
ace roll at the same time of the Augusta,
a remarkable steady ship, was eighteen
degrees, and Of the Ashnelet, twenty-five
degrees, both vessels steadied by sail.
A vessel which attacks Il monitor in a
sea way must approach very close 10
have any chance of hitting such low
hull, and even then, the monitor is half
the time covered BY three or four feet of
water, protecting her and disturbing
her opponents fire.


From these facts. not unknown to
monitor.men, and the experience we de-
rive from the use of such vessels during
the war, we may safely conclude that
the monitor type of iron clads IS supe
rior to the broadside, not only for fight
ing purposes, at sea, but also for cruls
ing. A properly constructed monitor,
possessing all the requirements OF a
cruiser, ought to be constructed OF iron,
and have but one turret, armed with not
less than twenty inch guns, two iude-
pendent propellers, aud the usual pro.
portion of sail.


Captain Fox writes private letter 10
a friend in the Department, in which he
sa, officers and men concur in the opin-
ion that the monitor is one of the pleas
ATTEST vessels to cross the ocean in. He
speaks of her action a. in every respect
admirable