Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/223

Rh "A shell from a rifled cannon will, when rightly aimed, tear a hole in the side of the largest ship sufficient to sink her in a few moments. . . . I do not mean by this that every shell which strikes a ship is bound to sink her. The true relation of a shell to a ship, is that of the musket-ball to the soldier in battle. . ..

"Our smooth waters and the improvements of the day enable us to send out a class of vessels that shall present little more than a feather-edge as a target to the enemy, and therefore be more invulnerable than the best shot-proof we can build. A little ship intended for the protection of Chesapeake Bay, or elsewhere in Southern waters, need not be more than twenty or twenty-five feet broad, and, with coal, crew, and gun on board, two or three feet above the water. Now, why may not such a vessel engage, at long range, with its rifled gun, the 'Minnesota,' for instance. We can shoot as far and hit as hard as the 'Minnesota.' . ..

"We, with our big gun and little ship, could watch our opportunity and always be the attacking party. Head on, we would approach the enemy on her beam.

"The cross-section of a vessel twenty feet broad and two feet out of water, measures forty feet. Forty square feet then would be the measure of the target to be presented on our side; on the other hand, the dimensions of the 'Minnesota' are not far from three hundred feet in length by twenty above the water—thus presenting a target, broadside on, of six thousand square feet, or one hundred and sixty times the size of ours. . ..

"Our necessities cry out for a navy in war; and when peace comes, it will profit us but little to be affluent and free, if we are continually liable to be pillaged by all who seek our custom. The breadth of our plantations and the value of our staples will be of small advantage if the others may have the mastery in our own waters."