The Monitor [From the "Weekly Alta California," April 12th.] (1862)

Source: The Polynesian. Honolulu: May 3, 1862

The New York papers censure severely the Secretary of the Navy for not having made provisions earlier to meet the Merrimac. If the Monitor had been delayed in her passage only one day, the rebel floating battery would, beyond question, have cleaned out all the shipping in Hampton Roads, and could not have been prevented from shelling the President himself out of the White House.

It was one of the most remarkable naval engagements on record. The Monitor, according to the wood-cuts which have been received, is something very difficult to describe with pen and ink. Its general appearance is that of a flat-boat, sharp at both ends, with a round tower in the centre, from which two guns protrude from the opposite sides. Her construction is such that she could only be struck on deck from a higher point, and the deck being heavily plated, the balls of course must glance without doing any damage.

According to the report of the right, which will be found elsewhere, she sailed around and around the Merrimac, at such close quarters as almost to touch, delivering her fire with the greatest precision and deliberation. It is narrated that both vessels fired several times lying almost alongside each other, and the crashing and smashing of the balls must have been terrific. An English officer who witnessed the fight is reported to have said that there is not a ship in the English navy that could withstand the Monitor, and her achievements in Hampton Roads go far to establish the correctness of the assertion. Neither the Warrior nor the La Gloire could do her much damage, for being nay eighteen inches above the water when in fighting condition, they would not have much service at which to direct their enormous batteries. They could only hope to gain a victory by running her down, but in her fight with the Merrimac, it is possible that she is altogether too nimble for such a movement to be executed with success.

The inventor of this most extraordinary battery is John Ericsson, a native of the Province of Wermeland [Varmland], Sweden. He was born in 1803. The son of a mining proprietor, his earliest impressions were derived from get engines and machinery of the mines. In 1814 he attracted the attention of the celebrated Count Platen, the intimate friend of Bernadotte, and being appointed a cadet in the Engineers, was employed as a nivelear  at the Grand Ship Canal, where he cut out the work for more than one hundred soldiers. In 1826 he obtained leave of absence for a visit to England, with the view of introducing his invention of a flame engine, which he had exhibited in a machine of ten horse power. This engine did not meet his expectations, and involved heavy expenditures, which induced him to resign his commission and devote himself to mechanical pursuits. Numerous inventions followed, among which may be mentioned the steam boiler on the principle of artificial draught, which was applied to railway locomotives in the Liverpool and Manchester road, in the fall of 1829.

But it was not till 1833 that he reduced to practice his long-cherished project of a caloric engine, and submitted the result to the scientific world in London. The invention excited very general interest, and lectures were delivered upon it by Dr. Lardiner and Professor Faraday. Dr. Andrew Ure was daring enough to say that the invention would throw the name of his great countryman, James Watt, in the shade; but practical experience has demonstrated the face that it is not very well adapted to purposes of navigation, for though the consumption of coal is only trifling, and the working of the machinery perfect, the speed attained by the Ericsson, built by him in New York in 1852, was not sufficient to meet the exigencies of commerce.

Ericsson next directed his attention to navigation, the result of which was the invention of the propeller, and of that new arrangement of the steam machinery in ships of war which has revolutionized the navies of the world. He sought to bring these inventions to the favorable notice of the British Admiralty, and was listened to with polite but incredulous attention. He found a more confiding listener in Captain R.F. Stockton, of the United States Navy, by whose influence with the Administration at Washington he was placed in a position to carry out his plans. He came to New York in 1839, and in 1841 was employed in the construction of the United States ship-of-war Princeton, which was the first steamship ever built with the propelling machinery under the water line, and out of reach of shot. 

He has been for many years a resident of Williamsburg, N.Y., and is a citizen of the United States. To his genius we owe our last escape from a great national calamity. There is no knowing what damage the Merrimac would have done but for the opportune appearance of his new invention-the Monitor. This fight will also revolutionize the whole system of coast defences- at least in such remote regions as the Pacific. One or two Monitors, with a monster floating battery constructed after the fashion of the Merrimac, will be hereafter sufficient for the protection of any of our harbors. None of these iron monsters which are now being constructed in the old world could reach us, and one "Monitor" would be more than a match for a fleet of the old style ships.