THE IRON FLOATING BATTERY.
This novel war machine, designed for harbor operations, was anchored near Sullivan’s Island, commanding the barbette guns of Fort Sumter. It was constructed of Palmetto logs, sheathed with plate iron, and supposed to be impregnable against shot. It was embrasured for and mounted four guns of heavy calibre, requiring sixty men to operate it. The outer or gun side was covered with six plates of iron—two of them of the T railroad pattern, placed horizontally, and the other four bolted one over the other, in the strongest manner, and running vertically. The wall of the gun side was full four feet thick, constructed of that peculiar palmetto wood so full of fibrous material that sixty-four pounders cannot pierce it. The main deck was wide and roomy, and kept in place by four heavy wedges, driven down by a species of ram, which held it fast, preventing any swaying around by the tide.