100 Historic Ships in Full Color by John Batchelor

Author:John Batchelor
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780486147086
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2012-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

49. U.S.S. MONITOR

The clash of the Monitor and the Merrimack (Virginia) in March 1862 represented a turning point in naval history not only because it was the first battle of the ironclads, but also because it was the first time that a revolving gun turret—now a commonplace feature of warships—was used on a military ship. Designed by Swedish-born American inventor John Ericsson, the U.S.S. Monitor was equipped with a rotating turret on the deck in which the vessels’ two 11-inch Dahlgren cannons were mounted. Most of the ship lay below the water line, making her a difficult enemy target at best. The controversial craft, which was very flat and narrow, had a length of 172 feet, and was sometimes referred to as “a tin can on a shingle.” She was completed in a record 101 days at the Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, New York (now part of Brooklyn) where her various parts were assembled from eight different foundries.

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