664 



NAVY, U. a 



fishing towns of New England, which have 

 been the chief nurseries of the American 

 navy, Bent a very considerable portion of 

 their sea-faring population into the army, 

 aiid in the great commercial seaports a similar 

 practice prevailed. " While every able and 

 sound man of proper age," says Secretary 

 Welles, " can be made a soldier, and put into 

 immediate service, there are comparatively few 

 of our population who can be employed as 

 sailors. The latter may be considered experts, 

 and instead of bounties, allurements, or drafts 

 to withdraw seamen from the element to which 

 they belong, the reverse should be the fact." 

 Acting on this suggestion, Congress has au- 

 thorized bounties to be offered to sailors as 

 well as to soldiers, and measures also have been 

 taken to transfer sailors who had enlisted in 

 the army into the naval service. The result 

 has been to rapidly fill up the deficiencies in 

 the quota of seamen, and to fill the receiving 

 ships to overflowing. In the latter part of 

 1863 the practice was also introduced of put- 

 ting on shipboard rebel prisoners who had 

 taken the oath of allegiance to the United 

 States, and desired to enter the national ser- 

 vice, but were unwilling to subject themselves 

 to the risk of summary execution if recaptured 

 while serving in the Federal army. 



The events of the year have afforded to some 

 extent an elucidation of the several questions 

 involved in the introduction into naval warfare 

 of ironclad vessels, especially of the Monitor 

 type, although no definite conclusions can be 

 said to have been reached. " The Monitor class 

 of armored ships," says the Secretary of the 

 Navy, " with revolving turrets and few guns 

 of heavy caliber, has proved itself to be well 

 adapted for harbor defence and coast service, 

 and in some emergencies these vessels, from their 

 great powers of endurance, have shown them- 

 selves to be efficient and serviceable in offen- 

 sive operations." The occasions upon which 

 they have been most severely tested are de- 

 scribed under OPERATIONS OF THE UNITED 

 STATES NAVY. Of the advantages and defects 

 of these vessels, as ascertained by actual test, a 

 variety of opinions from professional men and 

 officers are recorded ; a few brief extracts from 

 which are appended. 



The repulse of the ironclads before Charles- 

 ton, on April 7th, had the effect of creating an 

 impression against the efficiency of this class of 

 vessels almost as unreasonable as the prejudice 

 in their favor had formerly been. This was in a 

 measure occasioned by the unfavorable opinion 

 of them, supposed to be entertained by Ad- 

 miral Dupont, and by the reports made by 

 commanding officers after that engagement. 

 Thus Commander Worden, of the Montauk ob- 

 served: 



I desire to gay that I experienced serious embarrass- 

 ment in manoeuvring my renscl in the narrow and 

 uncertain channel, with the limited means of observa- 

 tion afforded from the pilot house, under the rapid and 

 concentrated lire from the forts, the vessels of the fleet 



close around me, and neither compass nor buoys to 

 guide me. After testing the weight of the enemy's 

 fire, and observing the obstructions, I am led to be- 

 lieve that Charleston cannot be taken by the naval 

 force now present, and that had the attack been con- 

 tinued, it could not have failed to result iu disaster. 



Commander Daniel Ammen, of the Patapsco, 

 reports : 



I am indebted to Acting Master Vanghan, transfer- 

 red temporarily to this vessel, for valuable aid in avoid- 

 ing collisions, as it is out of the question for one per- 

 son to observe properly from the various ligh tholes. I 

 think a want of vision one of the most serious defects 

 of this class, making it impossible to fight them advan- 

 tageously, to avoid dangers, or to make a satisfactory 

 recomioissance. Another question of great importance 

 as relates to their efficient employment, is the charac- 

 ter of the battery. It is proposed to batter down forts 

 with a 15-inch gun, then it is quite plain that we have 

 to come within distances at which heavy ordnance, if 

 employed in heavy batteries against us, cannot fail in 

 the end to injure or perhaps disable us. 



Commander G. W. Kodgers, of the Catskill, 

 reports : 



I was surprised to find, even with this severe fire, 

 that these vessels could be so much injured in so short a 

 time, two or three having passed me during the action 

 to which some disaster had happened. This vessel was 

 struck some twenty times, but without any serious in- 

 jury, except one shot upon the forward part of the 

 deck, which broke both plates, the deck planking, and 

 drove down the iron stanchion sustaining this beam 

 about one inch, causing the deck to leak. 



Commander Fairfax, of the Nantucket, re- 

 ports : 



Our fire was very slow, necessarily, and not half so 

 observable upon the walls of the forts as the rain of 

 their rifle-shot and heavy shell was upon this vessel. 

 After the third shot from the 15-inch gun the port stop- 

 per became jammed, several shots striking very near 

 the port and driving in the plating ; it was not used 

 again. * * * I am convinced that, although this 

 class of vessels can stand a very heavy fire, yet the 

 want of more guns will render them comparatively 

 harmless before formidable earthworks ana forts. I 

 must say that I am disappointed beyond measure at 

 this experiment of monitors overcoming strong forts. 

 It was a fair trial. 



On the other hand, Chief Engineer Stimers, 

 who had witnessed the engagement from a po- 

 sition outside the bar, observes in his official 

 report to Secretary Welles, under date of April 

 14th: 



The firing on the part of the enemy was very terrific. 

 He was not only able to keep up a very rapid fire from 

 his numerous guns, but, I felt satisfied, was using 

 reckless charges of powder, which it was clearly wis- 

 dom for him to do. I therefore expected to find on 

 ray visit to them (the ironclads) at least an approach 

 to the destructive results which had been obtained by 

 the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance in his experiments 

 against iron targets in the ordnance yard at Washing- 

 ton. I was, however, agreeably disappointed to find, 

 upon my inspection of the Monitor vessels next morn- 

 ing, that there were no clear passages through the 

 decks and no penetrations through the sides of the 

 vessels, or the pilot-houses. The blunt-headed shots 

 had proved much less effective than the round shot, 

 uot only in confining their injury to the indentation 

 made more distinctly than is the case with round shot, 

 but the indentations themselves were less than those 

 made by the spherical balls. On the other hand, I 

 found casualties had occurred which occasioned loss 

 of life in one instance, and disabled guns in others, 

 through faults of design which only such experience 



