In The "Monitor" Turret
By
S. Dana Greene, Commander, U. S. N., Executive Officer of the Monitor

        The keel of the most famous vessel of modern times, Captain Ericson's first iron-clad, was laid in the ship-yard of Thomas F. Rowland, at Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in October, 1861, and on the 30th of January, 1862, the novel craft was launched. On the 25th of February she was commissioned and turned over to the Government, and nine days later left New York for Hampton Roads, where, on the 9th of March, occurred the memorable contest with the Merrimac. On her next venture on the open sea she foundered off Cape Hatteras in a gale of wind (December 29th). During her career of less than a year she had no fewer than five different commanders; but it was the fortune of the writer to serve as her only executive officer, standing upon her deck when she was launched, and leaving it but a few minutes before she sank.       

## The Monitor's officer were: Lieut. J. L. Worden, commanding; Lieut. S. D. Greene, executive officer; Acting Master, L. N. Stodder; Acting Master, J. N. Webber; Acting Master's Mate, G. Grederickson; Acting Assistant Surgeon, D. C. Logue; Acting Assistant Paymaster, W. F. Keeler; Chief Engineer, A. C. Stimers (inspector); First Assistant Engineer, Issac Newton (in charge of steam machinery); Second Assist. Engineer, A. B. Campbell; Third Assist. Engineer, R. W. Hands; Fourth Assist. Engineer, M. T. Sunstrom; Captain's Clerk D. Toffey; Quartermaster, P. Williams; Clerk, D. Toffey; Quartermaster, P. Williams; Gunner's Mate, J. Crown; Boatswain's Mate, J. Stocking; and 42 others,-a total of 58.-S. D. G.

        We left New York in tow of the tug-boat Seth Low at 11 A. M. of Thursday, the 6th of March. On the following day a moderate breeze was encountered, and it was at once evident that the Monitor was unfit as a sea-going craft. Nothing but the subsidence of the wind prevented her from being shipwrecked before she reached Hampton Roads. The berth-deck hatch leaked in spite of all we could do, and the water came down under the turret like a waterfall. It would strike the pilot-house and go over the turret in beautiful curves, and it came through the narrow eye-holes in the pilot-house with such force as to knock the helmsman completely round from the wheel. The waves also broke over the blower-pipes, and the water came down through them in such qualities that the belts of the blower-engines slipped, and the engines consequently stopped for lack of artificial draught, without which, in such a confined place, the fires could not get air for combustion. Newton and Stimers, followed by the engineer's force, gallantly rushed into the engine-room and fire-room to remedy the evil, but they were unable to check the inflowing water, and were nearly suffocated with escaping gas. They were dragged out more dead than alive, and carries to the top of the turret, where the fresh air gradually them. The water continued to pour through the hawse-hole, and over and down the smoke-stacks and blower-pipes, in such quantities that there was imminent danger that the ship would founder. The steam-pumps could not be operated because the fires had been nearly extinguished, and the engine-room was uninhabitable on account of the suffocating gas with which it was filled. The hand-pumps were then rigged and worked, but they had not enough force to throw the water out through the top of the turret,-the only opening,-and it was useless to bail, as we had to pass the buckets up through the turret, which made it a very low operation. Fortunately, toward evening the wind and the sea subsided, and, being again in smooth water, the engine was put in operation. But at midnight, in passing over a shoal, rough water was again encountered, and our troubles were renewed, complicated this time which the jamming of the wheel-ropes, so that the safety of the ship depended entirely on the strength of the hawser which connected her with the tug-boat. The hawser, being new, held fast; but during the greater part of the night we were constantly engaged in fighting the leaks, until we reached smooth water again, just before daylight.
    It was at the close of this dispiriting trial trip, in which all hands had been exhausted in their efforts to keep the novel craft afloat, that the Monitor passed Cape Henry at 4 P. M. on Saturday, March 8th. At this point was heard the distant booming of heavy guns, which our captain rightly judged to be an engagement with the Merrimac, twenty miles away. He at once ordered the vessel stripped of her sea-rig, the turret keyed up, and every preparation made for battle. As we approached Hampton Roads we could see the fine old Congress burning brightly, and soon a pilot came on board and told of the arrival of the Merrimac, the disaster to the Cumberland and the Congress, and the dismay of the Union forces. The Monitor was pushed with all haste, and reached the Roanoke (Captain Marston), anchored in the Roads, at 9 P. M. Worden immediately reported his arrival to Captain Marston, who suggested that he should go to the assistance of the Minnesota, then aground off Newport News. @ As no pilot was available, Captain Worden accepted the

@ Captain John Marston, of the Roanoke, who was the senior officer present during Flag-Officer Goldsborough's absence of the sounds of North Carolina, had received peremptory orders to send the Monitor to Washington without delay. Similar orders had been received by Commodore Paulding in New York, but they only arrived after the Monitor's departure, and the tug by which Paulding endeavored to communicate with her failed to overtake her. When Worden went on board the Roanoke to report his arrival at Hampton Roads, Captain Marston took upon himself the responsibility of retaining the Monitor to protect the fleet. Under the circumstances, it is hard to see how he could have done otherwise, although his action involved him in a technical disobedience of orders. In view of the spirit of routine which pervaded the older branch of the service at this time, Captain Marston's action showed commendable spirit and good sense.- EDITORS.

volunteer services of Acting Master Samuel Howard, who earnestly sought the duty. An atmosphere of gloom pervaded the fleet, and the pygmy aspect of the new-comer did not inspire confidence among those who had witnessed the destruction of the day before. Skillfully piloted by Howard, we proceeded on our way, our path illumined by the blaze of the Congress. Reaching the Minnesota, hard and fast aground, near midnight, we anchored, and Worden reported to Captain Van Brunt. Between 1 and 2 A. M., the Congress blew up,- not instantaneously, but successively. Her powder-tanks seemed to explode, each shower of sparks rivaling the other in its height, until they appeared to reach the zenith,- a grand but mournful sight. Near us, too, at the bottom of the river, lay the Cumberland, with her silent crew of brave men, who died while fighting their guns to the water's edge, and whose colors were still flying at the peak. @@
   The dreary night dragged slowly on: the officers and crew were up and alert, to be ready for any emergency. At daylight on Sunday the Merrimac and her consorts were discovered at anchor near Sewell's Point. At about half-past 7 o'clock the enemy's vessels got under way and steered in the direction of the Minnesota. At the same time the Monitor goes under way, and her officers and crew took their stations for battle. Captain Van Brunt, of the Minnesota, officially reports, "I made signal to the Monitor to attack the enemy," but the signal was not seen by us; other work was in hand, and Commander Worden required no signal.   

@@ The fortune of civil war was illustrated in the case of the Merrimac. Commodore Buchanan's brother was an officer of the Congress, and each knew of the other's presence. The first and fourth lieutenants of the Merrimac, had each a brother in the United States army. The father of the fifth lieutenant was also in the United States army. The father of one of the midshipmen was in the United States navy. Lieutenant Butt, of the Merrimac, had been the room-mate of Lieutenant S. Dana Greene, of the Monitor, at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. -EDITORS.

the engagement. My place was in the turret, to work and fight the guns; with me were Stodder and Stimers and sixteen brawny men, eight to each gun. John Stocking, boatswain's mate, and Thomas Lochrane, seaman, were gun-captains. Newton and his assistants were in the engine and fire rooms, to manipulate the boilers and engines, and most admirably did they perform this important service from the beginning to the close of the action. Webber had charge of the powder division on the berth-deck, and Joseph Crown, gunner's-mate, rendered valuable service in connection with this dutch.
        The physical condition of the officers and men of the two ships at this time was in striking construct. The Merrimac had passed the night quietly near Sewell's Point, her people enjoying rest and sleep, elated by thoughts of the victory they had achieved that day, and cheered by the prospects of another easy victory on the morrow. The Monitor had barely escaped shipwreck twice within the last thirty-six hours, and since Friday, morning, forty-eight hours before, few if any of those on board had closed their eyes in sleep or had anything to eat but hard bread, as cooking was impossible. She was surrounded by wrecks and disaster, and her efficiency in action has yet to be proved.
         Worden lost no time in bringing it to test. Getting his ship under way, he steered direct for the enemy's vessels, in order meet and engage them as far as possible from the Minnesota. As he approaches, the wooden vessels quickly turned and left. Our captain, to the "astonishment" of Captain Van Brunt (as he states in his official report), made straight for the Merrimac, which had already commenced firing; and when he came within short range, he changed his course so as to come alongside of her, stopped he engine, and gave the order, "Commence firing!" I trice up the port, ran out the gun, and, taking deliberate aim, pulled the lockstring. The Merrimac was quick to reply, returning a rattling broadside (for she had ten guns to our two), and the battle fairly began. The turrets and other parts of the ship were heavily struck, but the shots did not penetrate; the tower was intact, and it continued to revolve. A look of confidence passed over the men's faces, and we believed the Merrimac would not repeat the work she had accomplished the day before.
         The fight continued with the exchange of broadsides as fast as the guns could be served and at very short range, the distance between the vessels frequently being not more than a few yards. Worden skillfully manoeuvred his quick-turning vessel, trying to find some vulnerable point in his adversary.
        Once he made a dash at her stern, hoping to disable her screw, which he thinks he missed by not more than two feet. Our shots ripped the iron of the Merrimac, while the reverberation of her shots against the tower caused anything but a pleasant sensation. While Stodder, who was stationed at the machine which controlled the revolving motion of the turret, was incautiously leaning against the side of the tower, a large shot struck in the vicinity and disabled him. He left the turret and went below, and Stimers, who had assisted him, continued to do the work.
        The drawbacks to the position of the pilot-house were soon realized. We could not fire ahead nor within several points of the bow, since the blast from our own guns would have injured the people in the pilot-house, only a few yards off. Keeler and Toffey passed the captain's orders messages to me, and my inquiries and answers to him, the speaking-tube from the pilot-house to the turret having been broken early in the attention. They per formed their work with zeal and alacrity, but, both being landsmen, our technical communications sometimes miscarried. The situation was novel; a vessel of war was engaged in desperate combat with a powerful foe; the captain, commanding and guiding, was inclosed in one place, and the executive officer, working and fighting the guns, was shut up in another, and communication between them was difficult and uncertain. It was this experience which caused Issac Newton, immediately after the engagement, to suggest the clever plan of putting the pilot-house on top of the turret, and making it cylindrical instead of square; and his suggestion were subsequently adopted in this type of vessel.
         As the engagement continued, the working of the turret was not altogether satisfactory. It was difficult to start it revolving, or, when once started, to stop it, on account of the imperfections of the novel machinery, which was now undergoing its first trial. Stimers was an active muscular man, and did his utmost to control the motion of the turret; but, in spite of his efforts, it was difficult, if not impossible, to secure accurate firing. The conditions were very different from those of on ordinary broadside gun, under which we had been trained on wooden ships. My only view of the world outside of the towers was over the muzzles of the guns, which cleared the ports by only a few inches. When the guns were run in, the portholes, were covered by heavy iron pendulums, pierced with small holes to allow the iron rammer and sponge handles to protrude while they were in use. To hoist these pendulums required the entire gun's crew and vastly increased the work inside the turret.
         The effect upon the shut up in a revolving drum is perplexing, and it is not a simple matter to keep the bearings. White marks had been placed upon the stationary deck immediately below the turret to indicate the direction of the starboard and port sides, and the bow and stern; but these marks were obliterated early in the action. I would continually ask the captain, "How does the Merrimac bear?" He replied, "on the starboard-beam," or "On the port-quarter," as the case might be. Then the difficulty was to determine the direction of the starboard-beam, or port-quarter, or any other bearing. In finally resulted, that when a gun was ready for firing, the turret wood be started on its revolving journey in search of the target, and when found it was taken "on the fly," because the turret could not be accurately controlled. Once the Merrimac tried to ram us; but Worden avoided the direct impact by the skillful use of the helm, and the struck a glancing blow, which did no damage. At the instant of collision I planted a solid 180-pound shot fair and square upon the forward part of her casemate. Had the gun been loaded with thirty pounds of powder, which was the charge subsequently used with similar guns, it is probable that this shot would have penetrated her armor; but the charge limited to fifteen pounds, in accordance with peremptory orders to that effect from the Navy Department, the shot rebounded without doing any more damage possibly to start some of the beams of her armor-backing.
        It is stated by Colonel Wood, of the Merrimac, that when that vessel rammed the Cumberland her ran, or beak, broken of and left in that vessel. In a letter to me about two years since, he described this ram as "of castiron, wedge-shaped, about 1500 pounds in weight, 2 feet under water, and projecting 2 1/2 feet from the stem." A ram of this description, had it been intact, would have struck the Monitor at that part of the upper hull were the armor and backing were thickest. It is very doubtful if, under any headway that the Merrimac could have acquired at such short range, this ram could have done any injury to this part of the vessel. That could by on possibility have reached the thin lower hull is evident from a glance at the drawing of the Monitor, the overhang or upper hull being constructed for the express purpose of protecting the vital part of the vessel.
         The battle continued at close quarters without apparent damage to either side. After a time, the supply of shot in the turret being exhausted, Worden haled off for about fifteen minutes to replenish. The serving of the cartridges, weighing but fifteen pounds, was a matter of no difficulty; but the hoisting of the heavy shot was a slow and tedious operation, it being necessary that the turret should remain stationary, in order that the two scuttles, one in the deck and the other in the floor of the turret, should be in line. Worden took advantage of the lull, and passed through the port-hole upon the deck outside to get a better view of the situation. He soon renewed the attack, and the contest continued as before.        

* The pride of Worden in his crew was warmly reciprocated by his men, and found expression in the following letter, written to him while he was lying in Washington disabled by his wound. We take from Professor Soley's volume, "The Blockade and the Cruisers" (Charles Scribner's Sons). -EDITORS:

HAMPTON ROADS, April 24th, 1862. U. S. MONITOR.

TO OUR DEAR AND HONORED CAPTAIN,

DEAR SIR:

    These few lines is from your own crew of the Monitor, with their kindest Love to you their Honored Captain, hoping to God that they will have the pleasure of welcoming you back to us again soon, for we are all ready able and willing to meet Death or anything else, only give us back our Captain again. Dear Captain, we have got your Pilot-house fixed and all ready for you when you get well again: and we al sincerely hope that soon we will have the pleasure of welcoming you back it to . . . We are waiting very patiently to engage our Antagonist if we could only get a chance to do so. The last time she came out we all thought we would have the Pleasure of sinking her. But we all got disappointed, for we did not fire one shot, and the Norfolk papers says we are cowards in the Monitor-and all we want is a change to show them where it lies with you of our Captain we can teach them who is cowards. But there is a great deal tat we would like to write you to but we think you will soon be with us again yourself. But we all join in which our kindest love to you, hoping that God will restore you to us again and hoping that you sufferings is at an end now, and we are all so glad to her that your eyesight will be spaired to you again. We would wish to write more to you if we hare your kind Permission to do so but at present we all conclude by tendering to you our kindest. Love and affection, to our Dear and Honored Captain. We remain until Death your Affectionate Crew.

THE MONITOR BOYS.

To Captain Worden.

to those in the pilot-house and its immediate vicinity. The flood of fight rushing through the top of the pilot-house , now partly open, caused Worden, blind as he was, to believe that the pilot-house was seriously injured, if not destroyed; he therefore gave orders to put the helm to starboard and "sheer train the extent of the injuries she had received. At the same time Worden sent for me, and leaving Stimers the only officer in the turret, I went forward at once, and found him standing at the foot of the ladder leading to the pilot-house.
         He was a ghastly sight, with his eyes closed and the blood apparently rushing from every pore in the upper part of his face. He told me that he was seriously wounded, and directed me to take command. I assisted in leading him to a sofa in his cabin, where he was tenderly cared for by Doctor Logue, and then I assumed command. Blind and suffering as he was, Worden's fortitude never forsook him; he frequently asked from his bed of plain of the progress of affairs, and when told that the Minnesota was saved, he said, "Then I can die happy."
        When I reached my station in the pilot-house, I found that the iron log was fractured and the top partly open; but the steering gear was still intact, and the pilot-house was not totally destroyed, and had been feared. In the confusion of the moment resulting from so serious an injury to the commanding officer, the Monitor had been moving without direction. Exactly how much time elapsed from the moment that Worden was wounded until I had reached the pilot-house and compelled the examination of the injury at that point, and determined what course to purpose in the damaged condition of the vessel, it is impossible to state; but it could hardly have exceeded twenty minutes at the utmost. During this time the Merrimac, which was leaking badly, had started in the direction of the Elizabeth River; and, on taking my station in the pilot-house and turning the vessel's head in the direction of the Merrimac, I saw that she was already in retreat. A few shots were fired at the retiring vessel, and she continued on to Norfolk. A returned with the Monitor to the side of the Minnesota, where preparations were being made to abandon the ship, which was still aground. Shortly afterward Worden was transferred to a tug, and that night he was carried to Washington.
        The fight was over. We of the Monitor through, and still think, that we had gained a great victory. This the Confederates have denied. But it has never been denied that the object of the Merrimac on the 9th of March was to complete the destruction of the Union fleet in Hampton Roads, and that she was completely foiled and driven off by the Monitor; nor has it been denied that at the close of the engagement the Merrimac retreated to Norfolk, leaving the Monitor in possession of the field. **

**"My men and myself were perfectly black with smoke and powder. All my underclothes were perfectly black, and my person was in the same condition. . . I had been up so long, and been under such a state of excitement, that my nervous system was completely run down . . . My nerves and mussels twitched as though electric shocks were continually passing through them . . . I lay down and tried to sleep - I might as well have tried to fly." From a private letter of Lieutenant Greene, written just after the fight.-EDITORS.

         In this engagement Captain Worden displayed the highest qualities as an officer and man. He was in his prime (forty-four years old), and carried with him the ripe experience of twenty-eight years in the naval service. He joined the ship a sick man, having but recently left a prison in the South. He was nominated for the command by the late Admiral Joseph Smith, and the result proved the wisdom of the choice. Having accepted his orders against the protest of his physicians and the entreaties of his family, nothing would deter him from the enterprise. He arrived on the battle-ground admits the disaster and gloom, almost despair, of the Union people, who had little faith that he could beat back the powerful Merrimac, after her experience with the Cumberland and Congress. Without encouragement, single-handed, and without specific orders from any source, he rose above the atmosphere of doubt and depression which surrounded him, and with unflinching nerve and undaunted courage he hurled his little untried vessel against his huge, well-proved antagonist, and won the battle. He was victor in the first ironclad battle of the world's history.
        The subsequent career of the Monitor needs but a few words.
        On the day after the fight I received the following letter from Mr. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy:

"U. S. STEAMER Roanoke, OLD POINT, March 10th, 1862.

         "MY DEAR MR. GREENE: Under the extraordinary circumstances of the contest of yesterday, and the responsibilities devolving upon me, and your extreme youth. # I have suggested to Captain Marston to send on board the Monitor, as temporary commanding, Lieutenant Selfridge, until the arrival of Commodore Goldsborough, which will be in a few days. I appreciate your position, and you must appreciate mine, and serve with the same zeal and fidelity.

With the kindest wished for you all, most truly,
G. V. FOX."

        For the next two months we lay at Hampton Roads. Twice the Merrimac came out of the Elizabeth River, but did not attack. We, on our side, had received positive orders not to attack in the comparatively shoal waters above Hampton Roads, where the Union fleet could not manoeuvre. The Merrimac protected the James River, and the Monitor protected the Chesapeake. Neither side had an iron-clad in reserve, and neither wished to bring on an engagement which might disable its only armored vessel in those waters.
         With the evacuation of Norfolk and the destruction of the Merrimac, the Monitor moved up the James River with the squadron under the command

# I was twenty-two years of age, and previous to joining the Monitor had seen less than three years of active service, with the rank of midshipman.-S. D. G.

of Commander John Rodgers, in connection with McClellan's advance upon Richmond by the Peninsula. We were engaged for four hours at Fort Darling, but were unable to silence the guns or destroy the earth-works.
        Probably no ship was ever devised which was so uncomfortable for her crew, and certainly no sailor ever led a more disagreeable life than we did on the James River, suffocated with heat and bad air if we remained below and a target for sharp-shooters if we came on deck.
        With the withdrawal of McClellan's army, we returned to Hampton Roads, and in the autumn were ordered to Washington where the vessel was repaired. We returned to Hampton Roads in November, and sailed thence (December 29th) in tow of the steamer Rhode Island, bound for Beaufort, N. C. Between 11 P. M., and midnight on the following night the Monitor went down in a gale, a few miles south of Cape Hatteras. Four officers and twelve men were drowned, forty-nine people being saved by the boats of the steamer. It was impossible to keep the vessel free of water and we presumed that the upper and lower hulls thumped themselves apart.
        No ship in the world's history has a more imperishable place in naval annals than the Monitor. Not only by her providential arrival at the right moment did she secure the safety of Hampton Roads and all that depended on it, but the idea which she embodied revolutionized the system of naval warfare which had existed from the earliest recorded history. The name of the Monitor became generic, representing a new type; and, crude and defective as was her construction in some of its details, she yet contained the idea of the turret, which is to-day the central idea of the most powerful armored vessels. ##

## On account of the death of the writer of this paper, which occurred December 11th, 1884, soon after its preparation, the proofs did not receive the benefit of his revision. the article appears substantially in the from in which it was written, without changes other than verbal ones and a slight rearrangement of paragraphs.
Of the service of Mr. Greene in connection with the Monitor, Captain Worden made the following official record in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy:

"I was ordered to her (the Monitor) on the 13th of January, 1862, when she was still on stock. Prior to that date Lieutenant S. D. Greene had interested himself in her and thoroughly examined her construction and design and informed himself as to her qualities, and notwithstanding the many gloomy predictions of naval officers and officers of the mercantile marine as to the great probability of her sinking at sea, volunteered to go in her, and, at my request, was ordered. From the date of his orders he applied himself unremittingly and intelligently to the study of her peculiar qualities and to her fitting and equipment . . . Lieutenant Greene, after taking his place in the pilot-house and finding the injuries there less serious than I had supposed, had turned the vessel's head again in the direction of the enemy to continue the engagement; but before he could get at close quarters with her she retired. He therefore very properly returned to the Minnesota and lay by her until she floated . . . Lieutenant Greene, the executive officer, had charge in the turret, and handled the guns with great courage, coolness, and skill; and throughout the engagement, as in the equipment of the vessel and on her passage to Hampton Roads, he exhibited an earnest devotion to duty unsurpassed in my experience."

EDITORS.