MONITORS.
PLANS OF THE MONITOR.
ST. LOUIS.
For constructing ships of war, iron is almost wholly used, and the experience of our late war has almost entirely changed the methods and theories of naval warfare. The enormous frigate, carrying a heavy armament of numerous guns, and manned by a thousand men, has been replaced by a small craft—so low in the water as to project above it only a few inches, carrying but a single gun, or at most only two, which are of very heavy calibre, and are mounted in a revolving tower in the middle of the craft. The general description of the Monitor, that it was a cheese-box on a raft, aptly describes their appearance.
By the introduction of the monitor as a war vessel, a complete change was wrought in naval warfare. The large hulk of the old ships afforded only a better target for the heavy guns of this new craft, while its own slight projection above the water, and the fact that its engines and propeller were covered by the water, afforded it almost absolute security from the enemy's guns. Even if it was struck, the round shape of its iron clad deck, and its revolving tower caused the balls to glance off without affecting much injury. In October, 1861, forty-five days from the laying of her keel, the St. Louis was launched, being the first iron-clad ship owned by the United States. Other vessels of similar design were rapidly brought to completion, and these iron-clad river boats began their task of opening the navigation of the Mississippi. The St. Louis was built in the city of the same name, by Mr. James B. Eads, of that city.