Your reporter was recently granted special permission to visit a monitor-type vessel in the performance of her duty, namely, interdicting the flow of commerce in and out of the Port of Charleston, South Carolina, now the infamous "Cradle of Secession." This correspondent was given a grand tour of one of the Navy's newest and most formidable vessels, the USS Lehigh, Captain Bryson commanding. She is a single screw steamer of the Passaic class of sea-going ironclads, mounting one massive 15-inch Dahlgren smoothbore in her revolving turret alongside a powerful eight-inch Parrott rifle. Despite her slow rate of fire, the Lehigh packs a devastating one-two punch as the crumbling ramparts of Fort Sumter can well attest. Yet, like a lumbering pugilist, the unwieldy Lehigh must cut off the ring of fire, as it were, to close with the enemy fort before delivering her dreaded "haymakers," all the while absorbing blows from the enemy's guns that would have surely knocked out a vulnerable wooden gunboat. Thus the Lehigh with her shallow draught and her sister monitors are positioned at the forefront of the blockade in depth, closest to the entrance of the harbor, and closest to the enemy.
Even when relieved from her station, life on board the Lehigh is no walk in Central Park for her complement of 75 officers and men. The crew must endure the extreme heat of a southern summer encased in iron, much of the time confined in close quarters below the main deck. Although she is 200 feet long and 46 feet abeam, descending to the berth deck of the Lehigh is like a descent into the nether regions, especially upon approaching the engine room aft, where shirtless coal heavers and sweating firemen toil like begrimed demons to keep the ship moving forward at a top speed of seven knots. Although your correspondent has grown rather accustomed to finding himself in "tight spots" since the commencement of the Rebellion, the confining atmosphere below left him feeling somewhat disoriented and slightly light-headed. Surrounded by boilers, gears, wheels, vibrating engines and clanking machinery of all types, as well as an endless tangle of steam pipes running fore and aft, this writer was frankly bewildered by the intricate, inner workings of the Lehigh, submerged as we were well below the surface of the sea, and with the afternoon temperature recorded in the ship's log at 98 degrees fahrenheit. The extra racks for solid shot with explosive ordnance packed into every available corner of the vessel added to the general feeling of claustrophobia. With what little ventilation that could be discerned coming down from the turret and hatchways, one begins to ponder one's lung capacity and the ability of the blowers to keep enough oxygen circulating for the entire crew plus one invited guest. Gladly ascending a ladder to the main deck, one is immediately greeted by a sweet draught of much-welcomed fresh air; however, the iron deck is not a safe place for a journalist or any other landlubber to linger when the ship is underway as the deck plates are almost completely awash by even a moderately choppy sea.
The pilot house atop the turret is cramped with room only for the Captain, helmsman, and pilot. And there is certainly no available space for a nosey reporter. Communication with the engine room and turret below is achieved through means of a speaking tube. The revolving gun turret immediately below the pilot house is the monitor's most visible and distinguishing feature. Inside it is a dark and foreboding place with dim light entering only through two gun portals. When aiming, the gunner must sight his guns by peering out through a small peephole. When fired, the deafening concussion of the guns is felt throughout the entire ship as the turret fills with sulfurous, choking smoke.
The only place of relative comfort to be found on an ironclad is the Captain's cabin and the wood-paneled ward room where the officers commune and take their meals. Despite the elegant furnishings, the heat encroaches upon officers and crew alike, making all unbearably miserable.
Despite her shortcomings and the hardships endured by her brave sailors, the Lehigh is one of the newest and most sophisticated vessels in the Navy's arsenal of warships. She is most feared in "Rebeldom" as the Confederates have no ironclad ram capable of standing toe-to-toe with our armored heavyweight. Instead, the enemy must rely upon disintegrating forts, obstructions, and the dreaded infernal torpedoes to keep the Union fleet at arm's length. It is only a matter of time for the crushing blockade to sever the rebels' tenuous supply line of foreign aid, and the birthplace of the rebellion will ingloriously fall like a rotten peach.
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Ed. note: The USS Lehigh was built by Reaney, Son, & Archibold, Chester, Pa., and launched 17 January 1863. She was subsequently commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 15 April 1863.
(For more information, see: Konstam A. Union Monitor 1861 - 65; Field R. Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad; and Hunter AF. A Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter.)
Photos: Hill, Jim Dan. The Civil War Sketchbook of Charles Ellery Stedman. Presidio Press, San Rafael CA, 1976.
Photos: Hill, Jim Dan. The Civil War Sketchbook of Charles Ellery Stedman. Presidio Press, San Rafael CA, 1976.
