624 THE DUEL BETWEEN THE “ALABAMA" AND “KEARSARGE."
tlie chain broken and indented in many places, andforced partly into the ship’s side. The enemy washeavier than myself, both in ship, battery, and crew;bat I did not know until the action was oyer that shewas also iron-clad.”
The ships were well matched in size, speed,armament, and crew, showing a likeness rarelyseen in naval "battles.! The number of the ship’scompany of the Kearsarge was 163. That of theAlabama , from the best information, was estimatedat 150.
The chain plating was made of one hundred andtwenty fathoms of sheet-chains of one and seven-tenths inch iron, covering a space amidships offorty-nine and one-half feet in length by six feet
’SIS
utn
THE SHELL IN THE STERN-POST OE THE “KEARSARGE.”
The charge was withdrawn from the shell, which wasboxed in, and in that condition it remained for mouths,until the ship reached Boston , where, when the vesselwas repaired, a section of the stern-post containing theembedded shell was cut away and sent to the Navy De-partment, and was finally deposited in the OrdnanceMuseum, at the Navy Yard, Washington.—J. M. B.
two inches in depth, stopped up and down to eye-bolts with marlines, secured by iron dogs, and em-ployed for the purpose of protecting the engineswhen the upper part of the coal-bunkers was empty,as happened during the action. The chains wereconcealed by one-inch deal-boards as a finish. Thechain plating was struck by a 32-pounder shot inthe starboard gangway, which cut the chain andbruised the planking; and by a 32-pounder shell,which broke a link of the chain, exploded, and toreaway a portion of the deal covering. Had the shotbeen from the 100-pounder rifle the result wouldhave been different, though without serious dam-
Length over all . 220 ft. .. 232 ft.
Length at water-line. 210 “ .. 198!£ “
Beam. 32 “ .. 33 “
age, because the shot struck five feet above thewater-line, and if sent through the side would havecleared the machinery and boilers. It is propertherefore to assert that in the absence of the chainarmor the result would have been nearly the same,notwithstanding the common opinion at the timethat the Kearsarge was an “iron-clad’’contendingwith a wooden ship. The chains were fastened tothe ship’s sides more than a year previous to thefight, while at the Azores . It was the suggestionof the executive officer, Lieutenant-CommanderJames S. Thornton, to hang the sheet-chain (orspare anchor-cable) over the sides, so as to protectthe midship section, he having served with AdmiralFarragut in passing the forts to reach New Orleans ,and having observed its benefit on that occasion.The work was done in three days, at acostformate-erial not exceeding seventy-five dollars. In ourvisit to European ports, the use of sheet-chains forprotective purposes had attracted notice and causedcomment. It is strange that Captain Semmes didnot know of the chain armor; supposed spies hadbeen on board and had been shown through theship, as there was no attempt at concealment; thesame pilot had been employed by both ships, andhad visited each during the preparation for battle.The Alabama had bunkers full of coal, which broughther down in the water. The Kearsarge was deficientin seventy tons of coal of her proper supply, butthe sheet-chains stowed outside gave protection toher partly-filled bunkers.
The battery of the Kearsarge consisted of seven-guns : two 11-inch pivots, smooth bore, one 30-pounder rifle, and four light 32-pounders ; that ofthe Alabama of eight guns : one 68-pounder pivot,smooth bore, one 100-pounder pivot rifle, and sixheavy 32-pounders. Five guns were fought by theKearsarge and seven by the Alabama , each with thestarboard battery. Both ships had made thirteenknots an hour under steam; at the time of the bat-tle the Alabama made ten knots. The masts of theKearsarge were low and smallshe never carriedmore than top-sail yards, depending upon her en-gines for speed. The greater size and height ofthe masts of the Alabama and the heaviness of herrig (barque) gave the appearance of a larger ves-sel than her antagonist.
Most of the line officers of the Kearsarge werefrom the merchant service, and of the crew onlyeleven men were of foreign birth. Most of theofficers of the Alabama were formerly officers in theUnited States Navy; nearly all the crew were Eng-lish, Irish, and Welsh , a few of whom were said tobelong to the “Royal Naval Reserve.” CaptainSemmes said, “ Mr. Kell, my first lieutenant, de-serves great credit for the fine condition in whichthe ship -went into action with regard to her bat-tery, magazine, and shell-rooms ”; and he assur-edly had confidence in the speed and strength ofhis ship, as Ehown by the eagerness and dash withwhich he opened the fight. The prisoners declaredthat the best practice during the action was by the
Alabama. Kearsarge-
Depth. 17 ft. .. lnH ft.
2 Engines apiece, each of. 300 h.p. .. 400 h.p-
Toimage.. 1040 .. 1031