Armor and weaponry
The U.S.S. Monitor was armed with two eleven inch Dahlgren smoothbores located in a 20 foot in diameter iron turret that could spin 360 degrees. The turret, which was covered in eight inches of iron plates was rotated by a vertical shaft that was connected to a 25 horsepower steam engine through a gear system. The rotation of the turret was controlled by one man under the deck. Over all the turret was nine feet high and weighed 120 tons. The cannons fired through oval gunports six feet above the deck. Each 184 pound shot was propelled by 15 pounds of gunpowder. The side of the ship was covered in five one inch iron plates over two feet of oak. The deck was covered in two layers of half inch iron on top of timber, and the hull was armored with ⅜ inch iron plates. The inventor of the Monitor, John Ericsson saw little need in the deck being heavily armored, the ship was so low in the water he thought there would only be a small chance that it would be hit.
Construction
The man who was responsible for …show more content…
The U.S.S. Monitor was in tow behind the U.S.S. Rhode Island at 7:30 pm when the two ships pass Cape Hatteras, one of the hawsers snaps and some of the oakum is forced out from under the turret of the Monitor. (Definition of oakum - loose fiber obtained by untwisting and picking apart old ropes, used for caulking the seams of ships.) The sea is turbulent at this time so some water pours through the holes flooding the engine room with one inch of water. By this time the water had also reached the coal bunker. Now that the coal was wet the pressure in the steam engine, which was usually at 80 pounds had dropped down to 20 pounds. At 10 pm the engineer told Bankhead that the water was one foot deep in the engine room. Bankhead gave the order for the distress lamp. Life boats were sent from the Rhode island to get the men from the sinking Monitor. 16 men were lost in the
The U.S.S. Monitor was armed with two eleven inch Dahlgren smoothbores located in a 20 foot in diameter iron turret that could spin 360 degrees. The turret, which was covered in eight inches of iron plates was rotated by a vertical shaft that was connected to a 25 horsepower steam engine through a gear system. The rotation of the turret was controlled by one man under the deck. Over all the turret was nine feet high and weighed 120 tons. The cannons fired through oval gunports six feet above the deck. Each 184 pound shot was propelled by 15 pounds of gunpowder. The side of the ship was covered in five one inch iron plates over two feet of oak. The deck was covered in two layers of half inch iron on top of timber, and the hull was armored with ⅜ inch iron plates. The inventor of the Monitor, John Ericsson saw little need in the deck being heavily armored, the ship was so low in the water he thought there would only be a small chance that it would be hit.
Construction
The man who was responsible for …show more content…
The U.S.S. Monitor was in tow behind the U.S.S. Rhode Island at 7:30 pm when the two ships pass Cape Hatteras, one of the hawsers snaps and some of the oakum is forced out from under the turret of the Monitor. (Definition of oakum - loose fiber obtained by untwisting and picking apart old ropes, used for caulking the seams of ships.) The sea is turbulent at this time so some water pours through the holes flooding the engine room with one inch of water. By this time the water had also reached the coal bunker. Now that the coal was wet the pressure in the steam engine, which was usually at 80 pounds had dropped down to 20 pounds. At 10 pm the engineer told Bankhead that the water was one foot deep in the engine room. Bankhead gave the order for the distress lamp. Life boats were sent from the Rhode island to get the men from the sinking Monitor. 16 men were lost in the