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Phelps, who had with great energy burst through the formidable raft nine miles below Fort De Russy, came up in Eastport in time to fire one shot from his 100-pounder Parrott, and to see the white flag displayed. When this news reached him, Porter at once ordered his fastest boats to hasten to Alexandria.
In 1861, a 3-1/4 plate at 45° was more injured by elongated 100-pounder shot than a 4-1/2 vertical plate, both plates having the same backing and the weights of iron being equal for the same vertical height. When set at practicable angles, inclined armor does not glance flat-fronted projectiles.
General Morgan will be able to enlighten us on this point." "And the more easily," replied the general, "that during the war I was a member of the committee of experiments. I may say, then, that the 100-pounder Dahlgrens, which carried a distance of 5,000 yards, impressed upon their projectile an initial velocity of 500 yards a second.
The monitors were to advance in single file, slightly in advance of the wooden ships, the Tecumseh, Commander Tunis A.M. Craven, in the lead. In this order the slow advance was begun and at a few minutes past seven the Tecumseh fired the first gun. The forts waited twenty minutes when they replied, and the Brooklyn responded with two 100-pounder Parrot rifles.
In this place it may be well to give the statistics of the Alabama, since the two vessels were so intimately associated in history. The Confederate cruiser carried one 100-pounder Blakely gun, one 8-inch shell gun and six long 32-pounders, the eight guns having a total of 360 pounds shot weight, while the crew consisted of 149 men, of mixed nationalities, nearly all of them being Englishmen.
There was little time for conversation, however, for the Huascar, as though in revenge for the damage inflicted by her puny enemy, again discharged her whole broadside or at least so much of it as was still capable of being fired; and the marksmanship was so excellent that every missile again struck the Covadonga, while at the same moment the Union again started firing with her bow-guns, and a 100-pounder shell struck the gunboat full upon the stern, blowing a huge hole in it, killing four men, and shooting away the ensign-staff and flag.
Some idea of the terrible power of modern quick-fire guns may be obtained when it is mentioned that a modern ship, armed with one 6-inch 100-pounder gun could fire and hit every time too, at three-quarters-of-a-mile range a greater weight of metal per minute than could be kept up by the 52 guns on the broadside of Nelson's Victory, or even by the broadside of the more modern Britannia.
When I add that for armament we carried one 100-pounder rifled gun on a pivot, and four 9-inch smooth-bore shell guns these being the naval piece which for the most part fought the War of Secession, then just closed I shall have given the principal distinguishing features of a class of vessel which did good service in its day, and is now a much of the past as is the Spanish Armada.
By simplifying the breech mechanism, using metal cartridge cases for the ammunition instead of silk bags which necessitated the sponging out of the piece after each shot to remove the smouldering fragments arranging the "sights" of the gun so that it could be aimed while loading was going on, and other ingenious arrangements, it was found that 6-inch 100-pounder guns could be fired many times per minute without any mechanical appliances.
The motive power was furnished by twin screws operated by engines of 200 horse-power each. Her armament consisted of an Armstrong 100-pounder in the bow and another in the stern, the casemate being so pierced that the guns could be used at broadside or quarter. At midnight, April 19, 1864, the Albemarle gave a proof of her prodigious power of destruction.
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