Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/395

 IRON-CLAD SHIPS 3S1 raised her, cut down her sides, and converted her into an iron-clad ram, which they called the Virginia. She was covered with two thick- nesses of two-inch iron slabs, with an oak back- ing inclined at about 45 to the water surface. She was armed with 10 9- and 10-inch guns, and on March 8, 1862, sallied out upon the ship- ping in Hampton Roads, sinking the frigate Cumberland by ramming, and subsequently de- stroying the Congress. On the 9th she resumed operations, and after a contest with the frigate Minnesota was met by the Monitor, a novel ship constructed by John Ericsson of New York, which after a brief but remarkable com- bat disabled and drove the Virginia back to Norfolk. This combat marks one of the most notable epochs in naval warfare, and changed the course of naval construction throughout the world. The essential feature of this vessel was a revolving turret, composed of wrought-iron plates an inch thick, bolted together till a thick- ness of 8 in. had been obtained. The turret was 20 ft. in diameter and 9 ft. high ; it con- tained two 11-inch Dahlgren guns, trained side by side and revolving with the turret, and throwing solid shot weighing 166 Ibs., with a charge of 15 Ibs. of powder. The hull of the vessel itself was of iron, 127 ft. long, 36 ft. 2 in. wide, and 12 ft. depth of hold. Her extreme length over all was 173 ft., extreme Fio. 6. The Monitor (elevation). width 41 ft. 6 in. She had a very low free- board, and sat so deep in the water that she seemed submerged. She was built at Green- point (Brooklyn), N. Y., in 100 days, and cost $275,000. The plan upon which she was built is known as the turreted or monitor system, and was invented by Theodore R. Timby of Dutchess co., N. Y. The essential part of the plan was conceived when he was a boy, and the germ of the whole invention was embodied in a model which he completed in 1841. On Jan. 18, 1843, he filed his first caveat for the inven- tion in the United States patent office. His specifications were " for a revolving metallic tower, and for a revolving tower for a floating battery to be propelled by steam." In the same year he completed and exhibited an iron model showing all the essential parts of the system as subsequently adopted, and still later another, which he presented to the emperor of China through Mr. Caleb Gushing, the American min- ister. In 1848 a committee of congress made , a favorable report to the secretary of war upon the system. This was several years previous to the time when Capt. Coles of the English navy claimed to have invented the turret. When the civil war broke out Mr. Timby con- structed a fifth model of his invention, embody- ing all the improvements which he had made. His patents covered the broad claim " for a re- volving tower for offensive and defensive war- fare, whether used on land or water." When therefore the monitors were to be built, the con- structors at once recognized the validity of his claim, and paid him a liberal sum for the right to use his invention. Fig. 7 presents the sec- Fia. 7. Tiinby'B Revolving Turret tion of a naval tower designed by Mr. Timby. It is supposed to be 40 ft. in diameter, with space for six guns. Revolving once a minute, its capacity would be one shot aimed at any given point every ten seconds. Thus it seems to be clear that the idea upon which the moni- tor system is based was invented and first pre- sented to public notice by Mr. Timby ; but it remained for Ericsson to give it practical ap- plication in this country, and Capt. Coles in England, although the latter did not at first propose to use revolving turrets. The results of the combat in Hampton Roads were far- reaching in effect; they demonstrated not only the destructive power and practical in- vulnerability of ironclads, but the utter in- ability of wooden frigates, no matter how armed or commanded, to contend with them. It was the first contest between the new and the old systems, and left no uncertainty as to their relative merits. All maritime nations addressed themselves actively to the transfor- mation of their old wooden steamships, wher- ever they were sound, by cutting down and plating their sides, and to supplying themselves with ships built according to the new system. The English displayed extraordinary activity in this direction; public opinion forced the government to build monitors as well as iron- clad frigates ; also to employ the best talents the country afforded in improving her system of artillery, as well as in experimenting upon the best combinations, whether of iron or of wood, for constructing impenetrable armor. Mr. E. J. Reed, secretary of the society of naval architects, was called to the post of chief con- structor, and began at once a radical modifica- tion of the English naval marine. In 1863 the Bellerophon, representing the ideas which Mr. Reed had carried into the English admiralty, was put upon the stocks. The Warrior and