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N0KFQ > TODAY 25.10.11 17:38l 45 Lines 1971 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 13250_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 25
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Sent: 111025/1522Z 13250@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Oct 25, 1861:
Keel of the USS Monitor is laid
On this day in 1861, signaling an important shift in the history
of naval warfare, the keel of the Union ironclad Monitor is laid
at Greenpoint, New York.
Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles appointed an Ironclad
Board when he heard rumors that the Confederates were trying to
build an iron-hulled ship, as such a vessel could wreak havoc on
the Union's wooden armada. In September 1861, the board granted
approval for engineer John Ericsson, a native of Sweden, to begin
constructing the U.S. Navy's first ironclad.
The wooden keel was laid at the Continental Iron Works at
Greenpoint. Carpenters worked around the clock on the frame while
the iron sheathing was prepared for the hull. The vessel was not
large_172 feet long and 41 feet wide_but its design was unique.
The craft had an unusually low profile, rising from the water
only 18 inches. A 20-foot cylindrical turret in the middle of the
ship housed two 11-inch Dahlgren guns that topped the flat, iron
deck. The ship had a draft of less than 11 feet so it could
operate in the shallow harbors and rivers of the South.
Ericsson pushed the production to be as speedy as possible, but
he could not deliver the ship by the January 12, 1862, delivery
date. It was finally launched into New York's East River on
January 30. Many small engine problems also needed to be solved
before the craft was commissioned on February 25. The Monitor
sailed for Virginia soon after, arriving at Chesapeake Bay on
March 6. On March 8, 1862, it engaged in one of the most famous
naval duels in history when it clashed with the Confederate
ironclad the Virginia (which had been constructed from the
captured Union ship Merrimack). A day of heavy pounding produced
a draw; each ship was immune from the other's shots. A new naval
era had dawned.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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