. The naval history of the Civil War . which they could obtain from Englishauthorities. They recommended three outof seventeen plans that had been submitted(one of them John Ericssons), but withreservations and a proviso (which wasenough to frighten off any constructor)that the vessels must be a success in allrespects, or else be thrown back on thehands of the contractors ! The Board on their own account recom-mended that armor and heavy guns be placed on one of our river craft; or, if nonewill bear it, to construct a scow that willanswer, to plate and shield the guns forriver service on the P
. The naval history of the Civil War . which they could obtain from Englishauthorities. They recommended three outof seventeen plans that had been submitted(one of them John Ericssons), but withreservations and a proviso (which wasenough to frighten off any constructor)that the vessels must be a success in allrespects, or else be thrown back on thehands of the contractors ! The Board on their own account recom-mended that armor and heavy guns be placed on one of our river craft; or, if nonewill bear it, to construct a scow that willanswer, to plate and shield the guns forriver service on the Potomac; to be con-structed or prepared at the WashingtonNavy Yard for immediate use! TheBoard did not say how this iron-clad war-rior was to be propelled. When three of the most skillful officersof the Navy could give the Secretary nobetter information than this, it is no wonderthat he was doubtful of his own ability todecide in such a case; but he did decide,and in favor of Ericsson, who proposednot only the most reasonable price for. JOHN LENTHALL, CHIEF OF BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION. his vessels, but the unity of the designseemed to strike the Board as somethinglikely to succeed. The New Ironsideswas also contracted for with Cramp &Sons in Philadelphia, and the Galena. tobe armored with three-inch iron, to bebuilt by Bushnell & Co., New Haven, Con-necticut. These three vessels, it is said, wereto represent the three types of the Americanidea of iron-clads—though, with the excep-tion of the New Ironsides, very few per-sons had any faith in them. This was the first attempt at building aniron-clad navy for operations on the coast. OF THE CIVIL WAR. 359 and the Monitor was the only one ofthem that was read} to meet the enemysgreatest fighting-machine, just in the nickof time. There was one thing which the Navy De-partment lost sight of altogether, and thatwas that the Merrimac was simply alarge frigate being metamorphosed intoan iron-clad. We had five vessels similarto the Merrima
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectunitedstatesnavy
