supply of shot in the turret being exhausted, Worden hauled off for about fifteen minutes to replenish. The serving of the cartridges, weighing but fifteen pounds, was a matter of no difficulty; but the hoisting of the heavy shot was a slow and tedious operation, it being necessary that the turret should remain stationary, in order that the two scuttles, one in the deck and the other in the floor of the turret, should be in line. Worden took advantage of the lull, and passed through the porthole upon the deck outside to get a better view of the situation. He soon renewed the attack, and the contest continued as before.
Two important points were constantly kept in mind: first, to prevent the enemy’s projectiles from entering the turret through the port-holes,—for the explosion of a shell inside, by disabling the men at the guns, would have ended the fight, as there was no relief gun’s crew on board; second, not to fire into our own pilothouse. A careless or impatient hand, during the confusion arising from the whirligig motion of the tower, might let slip one of our big shot against the pilot-house. For this and other reasons I fired every gun while I remained in the turret.
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THE MERRIMAC.”
THEJ ENCOUNTER AT SHORT RANGE.
THE MONITOR.”
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COMMANDER SAMUEL DANA GREENE, U. S. N. Executive officer of the “Monitor.” (From a war-time photograph.)
thirty pounds of powder, which was the charge subsequently used with similar guns, it is probable that this shot would have penetrated her armor; but the charge being limited to fifteen pounds, in accordance with peremptory orders to that effect from the Navy Department, the shot rebounded without doing any more damage than possibly to start some of the beams of her armor-backing.
It is stated by Colonel Wood, of the Merrimac, that when that vessel rammed the Cumberland her ram, or beak, was broken off and left in that vessel. In a letter to me, about two years since, he described this ram as “ of cast-iron, wedge-shaped, about 1500 pounds in weight, 2 feet under water, and projecting 2! feet from the stem.” A ram of this description, had it been intact, would have struck the Monitor at that part of the upper hull where the armor and backing were thickest. It is very doubtful if, under any headway that the Merrimac could have acquired at such short range, this ram could have done any injury to this part of the vessel. That it could by no possibility have reached the thin lower hull is evident from a glance at the drawing of the Monitor, the overhang or upper hull being constructed for the express purpose of protecting the vital part of the vessel.
The battle continued at close quarters without apparent damage to either side. After a time, the
pierced with small holes to allow the iron rammer and sponge handles to protrude while they were in use. To hoist these pendulums required the entire gun’s crew and vastly increased the work inside the turret.
The effect upon one shut up in a revolving drum is perplexing, and it is not a simple matter to keep the bearings. White marks had been placed upon the stationary deck immediately below the turret to indicate the direction of the starboard and port sides, and the bow and stern; but these marks were obliterated early in the action. I would continually ask the captain, “How does the Merrimac bear?” He replied, “ On the starboard-beam,” or “On the port-quarter,” as the case might be. Then the difficulty was to determine the direction of the starboard-beam, or port-quarter, or any other bearing. It finally resulted, that when a gun was ready for firing, the turret would be started on its revolving journey in search of the target, and when found it was taken “ on the fly,” because the turret could not be accurately controlled. Once the Merrimac tried to ram us; but Worden avoided the direct impact by the skilful use of the helm, and she struck a glancing blow, which did no damage. At the instant of collision I planted a solid 180-pound shot fair and square upon the forward part of her casemate. Had the gun been loaded with
missed by not more than two feet. Our shots ripped the iron of the Merrimac, while the reverberation of her shots against the tower eaused anything but a pleasant sensation. While Stod-der, who was stationed at the machine which controlled the revolving motion of the turret, was incautiously leaning against the side of the tower, a large shot struck in the vicinity and disabled him. He left the turret and went below, and Stimers, who had assisted him, continued to do the work.
The drawbacks to the position of the pilot-house were soon realized. We could not fire ahead nor within several points of the bow, since the blast from our own guns would have injured the people in the pilot-house, only a few yards off. Keeler and Toffey passed the captain’s orders and messages to me, and my inquiries and answers to him, the speaking-tube from the pilothouse to the turret having been broken early in the action. They performed their work with zeal and alacrity, but, both being landsmen, our technical ‘ — communications sometimes miscarried. The situation
was novel: a vessel of war was engaged in desperate combat with a powerful foe; the captain, commanding and guiding, was inclosed in one place, and the executive officer, working and fighting the guns, was shut up in another, and communication between them was difficult and uncertain. It was this experience which eaused Isaac Newton, immediately after the engagement, to suggest the clever plan of putting the pilot-house on top of the turret, and making it cylindrical instead of square; and his suggestions were subsequently adopted in this type of vessel.
As the engagement continued, the working of the turret was not altogether satisfactory. It was difficult to start it revolving, or, when once started, to stop it, on account of the imperfections of the novel machinery, which was now undergoing its first trial. Stimers was an active, muscular man, and did his utmost to control the motion of the turret; but, in spite of his efforts, it was difficult, if not impossible, to secure accurate firing. The conditions were very different from those of an ordinary broadside gun, under which we had been trained on wooden ships. My only view of the world outside of the tower was over the muzzles of the guns, which cleared the ports by only a few inches, "when the guns were run in, the portholes were covered by heavy iron pendulums,
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