Lincoln County leader., July 01, 1904, Image 7

.H--H- -"--H--H' H 1 I 1 I 1 I I I I 1 1 I I I I I I I I I I I 111 I H lilt I 1 1 I 1
EVOLUTION OF THE IRONCLAD.
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IIE war between England and
II Russia in the early 50's was tlie
beginning of the development of
the Ironclad or, as we now call It, the
armorclad though not to either of the
combatants In that passage at arms
can the credit be given for the Intro
duction of the first vessel to carry
armor. Up to the bombardment of Se
bastopol, writes John G. Davis, In
Pennsylvania Grit, ships that were
practically those of the previous two
centuries were in use. Naval devel
opment was practically unknown, and
it was not until the Bhell was Invented
that the necessity of a change was
made manifest. The English ph'.ps at
Sebastopol were of the old two' and
three-decker broadside variety, the
flagship of the squadron, the Royal
Albert, being a vessel of 3,100 tons
burden carrying 121 guns. In those
days the ship with the largest number
of guns was "the best fellow," prac
tically regardless of any other consid
eration. A few of the Royal Albert's
guns were shell guns, but nearly all of
them were the long 32-pounders, exact
ly like those with which the Victor,
the flagship of the famous Nelson, was
armed seventy years earlier. In near
ly three-quarters of a century, there
fore, there had been little or no real
progress in the matter of cannon. And
beyond the introduction of steam us a
motive power, there was very little
development In the ships. As said be
fore, they were the same old two and
lead of the United States, and at onco
began the construction of several ves
sels of the same type. By 1859, when
the first Ironclad war vessel ever built
was launched, the renovation of the
navies of Europe was well under way,
and the screw was in almost exclusive
use.
To Admiral Dahlgren of the United
States navy must be given the credit
of making the shell what it is. He
carried the application of this new
missile to great perfection in the
United States frigates of 1854. The
Merrimac, one of these the same Mer
rimac which finally was compelled to
acknowledge the superiority of the
armored Monitor was taken to Eu
rope in 1854, startling naval adminis
trations with the enrmous shell power
of her battery. In the few years in
tervening between this time and the
Civil War, navies were In a practical
ly experimental stage. Some means, it
was acknowledged, must be devised
for protection against the new and
terrible shells, which could tear a ship
to pieces with ease, but what it was
going to be was problematical. Armor
had been suggested as early as 1812,
when John Stevens of Hoboken, N. J.,
broached the idea. Nothing came of
it, however, perhaps because the ex
treme necessity of it was not appar
ent, and It was not until 1843 that any
thing definite was accomplished. In
that year the Secretary of War was
authorized by Congress to enter into
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OLD TYPE THREE-DECKER, HELPLESS UNDER FIRE.
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MONITOR AND MERRIMAC FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN IRONCLADS.
three deckers so familiar in the pre
ceding century.
The Russians were the first to use
ehell in warfare, and it was immedi
ately owing to the battle of Slnope,
Is'ov. 80, 1853, in which a Turkish fleet
-was annihilated by a Russian fleet
having shell guns that there came sud
denly a demand for protection for
ships. The change was radical, but
It was necessary, the effectiveness of
the shell against unarmored vessels
having been demonstrated to the satis
faction and alarm of all governments.
Nevertheless, to the United States,
Jreat Britain and France the world
owes most of the ideas of naval con
struction which have to-day apparent
ly come near perfection. The United
Slates began the change by applying
the screw as a means of propulsion
in place of the old side paddle Wheel.
The American ship rrinceton, 1S42
1843, was the first war vessel in the
world to have the screw. Though our
own naval authorities saw at once the
superiority of this type over the old.
Europeans took up the idea with the
greatest reluctance, probably because
of the then belief that nothing good
could come out of the United States.
Nevertheless, it became evident after
a time that the improvement must be
adopted if pace were to be kept, and In
1853 the French built the screw battl"
shlp Napoleon. The English had op
portunity to see that this was the com
ing method of propulsion and as the
French themselves were bo pleased
with the new ship that they immedi
ately began the construction of others.
Great Britain realized that a mistake
had been made In not following the
contract with Robert L. Sevens, son
of the man who originally proposed
armor, for the construction of a "war
steamer for harbor defense, shot and
shell proof, to be built principally of
iron." The length of this vessel was
iron." The length of this vessel was to
have been 415 feet, and its protection
was to have been a belt or armor of
iron 6 inches in thickness. Work was
not begun until 11 years after the con
tract was authorized, and when the
ship was about half completed Con
gress refused further appropriations.
Owing to this fact, the honor of plac
ing the first armored war ship on the
seas belongs to France, the French
ironclad frigate Glolre taking the ways
in 1850, though previously to this the
French had placed in service several
floating iron batteries which demon
strated their power In the battle of
KInburn, a Russian port on the Black
Sea, in 1854. These batteries were pe
culiar things, about half ship and half
fort They had engines and they could
steam four or five knots, but they were
upon flat keels and therefore totally
unseaworthy except In the smoothest
of water. Nevertheless, they were ex
ceedingly effective, and in his reports
of the first battle In which they were
engaged, the admiral of the French
fleet said they had demonstrated them
selves to be everything that was hoped
for them. Anchored some 800 yards
from the Russian forts, they pounded
away until the works were reduced,
and not one of them was injured,
though each was struck 60 or 70 times
by the solid shot hurled from the Rus
sian guns.
This engagement showed that recon
struction of existing fleets was a ne
cessity, and the French led the way.
The Gloire was a wooden ship 250
feet in length, plated entirely with
iron 4.5 inches In thickness to six feet
below the water Hue. She had a ram
bow and could steam about 13 knots.
Trials alongside the fastest wooden
ships of the French navy demonstrated
the Gloire to be superior to them all
In every way. The English then began
to hurry work on ironclads, and in
1801 launched the Warrior. She was
larger than the Gloire, but she was ar
mored only for two-thirds of her
length, bow and Rtern being unpro
tected. These vessels were of course
of the broadside type, the turret com
ing only in our own Monitor, which
revolutionized nnvnl construction, or
perhaps it would hotter be said, start
ed it in the right direction.
On March 0, 1802, there was fought
in Hampton Roads the first battle be
tween armored ships, when the Moni
tor and the Merrimnc engaged In their
famous clash. It Is not necessary to
tell how the Merrimac, a GO-gun frig
ate under repair nt the Norfolk dock
yards, was set afire to prevent her fall
ing Into the hands of the Confederates
when the place was evacuated: how
she but partly burned, and how she
was repaired by the Confederates, who
cut her down to the waterline and ap
plied a sloping protection of railroad
Iron to her battery; how she destroyed
some of the best ships in the Federal
navy and became the terror of the
Atlantic coast and the hope of the Con
federates; nor how the Monitor finally
appeared and stopped her In the height
of her career. These things are all fa
miliar to every person who is at all
versed in American history, the battle
ranking perhaps as the most famous
naval fight in the world not, of
course, in damage inflicted, but in ulti
mate results. For had the Merrimac
been successful, the whole north coast
of the United States, with the ports of
Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and
all other cities of the shore, would
have been at her mercy. It may not
be familiarly known that at the very
beginning of the war, a special naval
board was appointed todetermine upon
types of ironclads to be built for im
mediate service, the result being the
construction of three broadside ves
sels, the Galena, the New Ironsides
and the Monitor. The Galena was
the first to be tested, her armor
proving totally deficient In the very
first test The Ironsides did better.
She was covered with 4yJ-inch solid
plates backed with 21 Inches of oak.
During a period of six months she was
struck 103 times and was never once
forced to go to a port for repairs. The
Monitor, built and designed by Cap
tain Ericsson, was derisively called by
the Confederates "a cheesebox on a
raft" She had a very low freeboard,
there being but about two feet of her
sides out of water. Her deck and
sides were plated, and her armament
consisted of but two 150-pounder Dahl
grens. But she had one point of su
periority to anything that had ever
been placed upon the sens In the tur
ret which protected her guns and
which could be mnde to revolve, thus
permitting the guns to be fired at
whatever angle in which the Rhlp it
self might be. Nothing else showed
above the deck but her funnel and ar
mored pilot house. The manner in
which she fought the Merrimac, com
pelling the latter to withdraw and
eventually go out of service, created
positive consternation on the other side
or the water, and there was an imme
diate demand for the conversion of
English vessels into turret ships. Work
was at once begun, and the result is
seen to-day in the great fighting ships
possessed by all the navies of the
world. Progress was exceedingly rap
id, though our own part in advancing
naval construction did not begin until
a number of years after the close of
the war. When at last we did enter
upon a period of naval activity, there
were few navies which were not su
perior to ours. We had not seen tho
need of an extended naval program,
and, besides, we were too much en
gaged in reconstruction of tho nation
to be able to go to any great expense.
So it was that all tlie nations of Eu
rope took our ideas and developed
them. It was In 1883 that we began
modern construction, In building the
cruisers Chicago, Boston and Atlanta
and the dispatch boat Dolphin. In
1S05 the United States took fifth rank
among naval nations. We are now
third (some claim we are stronger than
France, which has held second place
for a good many years) and England Is
first. England may always hold the
lead, for the naval program of Great
Britain Is so extensive that to keep
pace with it would be useless ex
pense. Late history of naval development Is
familiar to every person who reads.
Tho SpanlHh-American war gave an
impetus to naval construction which
has resulted in the addition of n large
number of the finest fighting machines
In the world to our navy, Including
all the approved types of vessels from
the monster battleship of the States
group, like the Kentucky, the Indiana,
the Iowa, the Oregon, the Alabama,
the Maine and the Massachusetts; tlie
cruisers with the New York, Brook
lyn, and others; second class battle
ships and cruisers, gunboats, torpedo
boats and destroyers; dispatch boats,
fast converted cruisers and transports;
colliers, repair ships and ammunition
carriers, with all the new things which
have been proved of value or which
may be useful, Including sub-marines.
The iron plates of two or three inches
thickness have long been displaced
with hardened 17-inch steel armor,
and marvelous turrets, holding won
derful guns have developed from the
primitive "cheese box" from which
Lieutenant Worden directed the fight
of the Monitor against the Merrimac.
Not the 8amo Girl Now.
"She used to be such a sweet girl!"
"Yes, but she fermented about five
years ago." Town Topics.
Teacher Who was Joan of Arc?
Pupil Why er Noah's wife."
Princeton Tiger.
Dyer How do you know he is hon
est? Duell He declined a position ia
the Postotflce Department Life.
An odd notice has been seen over a
shop in Cairo: "I speak English and
understand American." Exchange.
"Would you rather be right than be
President?" "No, but I'd rather be
wrong than be Vice President." Puck.
Just Help Himself: He If I tried
to kiss you would you call for help?
She Would you need it? Smart Set
The Fly The moth seems very
grouchy. The Roach Yes; he's been
chewing the rag all day. Princeton
Tiger.
Naturally: "So you reached the town
Just after the cyclone?" "Yes." "How
did things look?" "Rather blew."
Exchange.
"Has your father a bad cold?" "No,
Indeed. He Is merely reading the Russian-Japanese
war news aloud."
Washington Star.
Reporter Senator Bllklns has abso
lutely nothing to say. Editor Well,
bull It down. We are terribly crowd
ed to-night Puck. -
Mr. Sipp Y'oung man, how dare you
swear before my wife? Boy How
did I know your wife wanted to swear
first? Chicago Dally News.
Barker This is an age of high civ
ilization. Parker Oh, I don't know;
nearly everybody is discussing how
much good the Russo-Japanese war
will do us. Detroit Free Press.
Practical Aunt Do you think you
are qualified to become tlie wife of a
poor man. Sweet Girl Oh, yes; it's ail
fixed. We are to live In a cottage, and
I know how to make cottage pudding.
"A great actor Is usually wedded to
his art, is he not?" "Yes," answered
Mr. Stormington Barns; "many of
them are wedded. But there Is a great
deal of Incompatibility." Washington
Star.
Tramp I'd like to bony a medical
almanac, mum. Housekeeper What
for Tramp I wants ter see wot th'
doctors recommend for an empty feel
in' in th stummlck. New York
Weekly.
Employer1 And now that we are en
gaged to be married, I suppose I shall
have to hire a new typewriter. Type
writer Not at all, dear. I shall at
tend to the hiring of your typewriters
nfter tills. Exchange.
Toogood Jack, have you that two
pounds I lent you the other day? Hard
pusht Not all of It old chap, but what
I have left will do me a day or two
longer. Very kind and thoughtful of
you to inquire, though.
Going the Rounds: Miranda I ac
cepted Mr. Mashlelgh last night and
he is going to got the engagement ring
to-day. Muriel Oh, he already has It
I returned to hlm tills morning tlie one
he gave me. Exchange.
A Remedy: Grinder What! asleep
at your desk, and work so pressing?
Meekly Excuse me, sir, baby kept me
awake all night Grinder Then you
should have brought it with you to the
olllce. Town and Country.
Just a Hint: She Mamma is aw
fully thoughtful. He Indeed? She
Yes, indeed. Why, for instance, she
would never think of coming into the
parlor when I have a caller without
first coughing. Minneapolis Journal.
The Doctor's Successor. "What
profession do you follow?" asked at
torney for plaintiff. "The medical
profession," tlie witness answered.
"Are you a practicing physician?" "No,
sir." "Then what do you mean by say
ing you follow the medical profes
sion?" "I am an undertaker, sir."
Brooklyn Eagle.
"Mister Jedge," called out the col
ored witness, after he had been on the
stand a full hour, "kin I say one word,
suh?" "Yes," replied the Judge; "what
Is it?" "Hit's des dls, suh; ef you'll
des make de lawyers set down en keep
still two minutes, en gimme a llvin
chance, I'll whirl In en tell de truth."
Atlanta Constitution.
riayed on the Piano. Mother (re
turning from a shopping tour) For
goodness sake! What's the matter
with little Willie? New Nurse Tis
a bad boomp he got ma'am. Ye
know, ye told me 01 was to let him
play on tlie planny, an' onct whin he
was slldln' on the top of it, he slid too
far, Ma'am. Philadelphia Press.
"Your children are so well behaved,"
said Mrs. Blndad to Mrs. Noah, after
the Noah family had established Itself
on the slopes of Ararat "How do you
compel them to act so nicely?" "Well,"
smiled Mrs. Noah, "ever since we
made that trip in the ark, all their
papa had to do Is to threaten to take
them to the next circus that cornea
along if they are not good." Life.
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FIRST SEA-GOING IRONCLAD. THE GLOIRE.