A Brief Dry Spell for the U.S.S. Monitor

New York Times ^ | aug 12, 2011 | John Tierney

[fso301]

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Military secrecy was a bit lax during the Civil War, by today’s standards, but contractor deadlines were a lot tighter.

The technology that revolutionized naval warfare began with a five-sentence message delivered to The New York Times 150 years ago, on Aug. 9, 1861, and the information was not exactly classified. It was an advertisement placed by the Union Navy, to appear the following six days, under the heading “Iron-Clad Steam Vessels.”

[fso301]

Here's an interesting story about restoration of the turret from U.S.S. Monitor underway in Virginia

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

John Ericsson was a genius!

[Riley]

Here's an interesting story about restoration of the turret from U.S.S. Monitor underway in Virginia.

Holy smokes!

ROADTRIP.

[fso301]

John Ericsson was a genius!

One definitely get's that impression. I was amazed that he had the foresight to install a spall liner in the turret

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks fso301. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. Clearly, we'll need some ancient history topics this week. :') To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Spktyr]

Spalling was known even before the first ironclads, though it wasn’t well understood until real armor plated structures and vehicles came in. It was, however, quite ingenious of him to try and solve the problem that way. Keep in mind that spall liners didn’t begin to be installed in armored vehicles until well after WW2.

[thackney]

Conservation of USS Monitor’s Turret Webcam
http://www.marinersmuseum.org/uss-monitor-center/conservation-uss-monitors-turret-webcam

Online visitors can always catch a glimpse of the USS Monitor’s revolving gun turret. The 120-ton wrought iron turret is visible whether the tank is filled with 90,000 gallons of treatment solution or if conservators are inside the turret performing treatment activities.

[tanknetter]

It was, however, quite ingenious of him to try and solve the problem that way.

There was a lot of ingenuity on both sides. Few weeks back I was in Charleston, SC and visited the CSS Hunley, which is being conserved under similar circumstances as the Monitor's turret.

The Hunley has turned out to be quite a bit different than the mythology that grew up around her in the 135 years she was lost off Sullivan's Island. She was a LOT more advanced than people thought she was. She had better hydrodynamic streamlining (esp at the bow), various types of effective stealth features and even an internal flywheel the diameter of the inside of her hull to assist her crew with turning her propeller (she was powered by 7 men hand-turning a crankshaft)

One thing that isn't mentioned in the article about the fight between Monitor and Merrimack/Virginia is that during the battle the Monitor's Dahlgren guns were only fired using half charges - due to a Navy policy resulting from the earlier explosion aboard the USS Princeton. Had the Dahlgrens been fired with full charges, Monitor would have eaten Merrimack/Virginia alive.

[docbnj]

Not only was Ericsson a genius, but Cornelius Scranton Bushnell was an alert entrepreneur, quickly (in ten minutes!) recognizing the superiority of the turret design, and backing it.

The Times article almost reluctantly acknowledges Bushnell’s part, but he was indeed a remarkable individual in his own right, with the old-style New-England Yankee enterprise. According to the great Wikipedia, Bushnell went to sea at age 15, and in a year-and-a-half, was master of a large schooner. He eventually rescued a bankrupt railroad, and brought it to great profitability. Bushnell undoubtedly by then had great initiative, and good mechanical ability based on actual experience. If you read his story, you wonder how many of today’s executives would be able to think and manage as well as he.

There does not even seem to be a full biography published for Bushnell. Some historian should take this up as a project.

Bushnell knew a good design, and went to bat for it, at considerable risk. He essentially told the politicians what would be good, and they trusted him because of his record.

I cannot help but thinking of the contrast with today’s automobile executives, ruling over companies with thousands of knowledgable, competent engineers, and yet crawling on their bellies to curry government favor and handouts, and backing ruinous “green” policies, to the detriment of our country’s economy, and our very future.

[Red_Devil 232]

The Monitor: A Full Size Replica at the Mariners Museum

 

 

[Western Phil]

An interesting bit of history from: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bm.htm

“Continued belief in the utility of monitors for certain exigencies of warfare was indicated by the fact that the thirteen monitors remaining from the Civil War, and which for many years had lain useless and decaying in the waters of League Island, were rapidly repaired and brought into service again in the war times of 1898, being stationed for coast defence at various exposed points along the coast. The decay had been superficial only; their engines and other important parts had been kept in order, and little change was necessary to bring these veterans of 1862 again into working order.

The naval appropriation act approved May 4, 1898 (30 Stat. 390), provided: “That hereafter all first-class battle ships and monitors owned by the United States shall be named for the States, and shall not be named for any city, place, or person until the names of the States shall have been exhausted: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to interfere with the names of States already assigned to any such battle ship or monitor.” There were subsquently four newly built monitors having the names of States, viz, the Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, and Wyoming. “

[fso301]

I cannot help but thinking of the contrast with today’s automobile executives, ruling over companies with thousands of knowledgable, competent engineers, and yet crawling on their bellies to curry government favor and handouts, and backing ruinous “green” policies, to the detriment of our country’s economy, and our very future.

That's for sure. Good managers are hard to find and the failures of a few good engineers to transition into management resulted in sort of a conventional wisdom amongst the mass of average technical managers that good engineers do not make good managers.

[fso301]

I had no idea monitors were used on into the 20th century. Thanks.

[neverdem]

Here's another piece by the same author, John Tierney. It's really good, and it's hard to believe that it was first in the NY Times Sunday Magazine.

Recycling Is Garbage

[fso301]

Wow! That was a really good article. Amazing the guy was able to keep his job at the NYT.