the vessel was in dock; and it was supposed that she would float with her ends barely submerged. So great was her buoyancy, however, that it required some 800 tons of pig iron (according to Boatswain Hasker in his account of her) to bring her down to her proper depth. I know myself that a quantity of iron was put on, though I cannot say how much. Now as this iron was put on, the whole structure sunk; and when she was ready for battle, her ends, which extended some fifty feet forward and abaft the shield, were submerged to the depth of several inches and could not be seen. . . . The appearance of the Merrimac was that of the roof of a house. Saw off the top of a house at the eaves (supposing it to be an ordinary gable-end, shelving-side roof), pass a plane parallel to the first through the roof some feet beneath the ridge, incline the gable ends, put it in the water, and you have the Merrimac as she appeared. When she was not in action, her people stood on the top of this roof, which was, in fact, her spar deck."[1]
Lieut. Catesby Jones says (Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XI):
The prow was of cast iron, wedge-shaped, and weighed 1,500 pounds. It was about two feet under water, and projected two feet from the stem.... I may mention that it was so badly fastened that the best judges said it would certainly break off when used. It will be seen hereafter that perhaps it was as well that it was not firmly fastened. . . . The rudder and propeller were unprotected. The battery consisted of ten guns; four single-handed Brooke rifles, and six 9-inch Dahlgren guns. Two of the rifles, bow and stern pivots, were 7 -inch, of 14, 500 pounds; the other two were 6.4-inch caliber, 32-pounder, of 9,000 pounds, one on each broadside. The 9-inch gun on each side nearest the furnaces was fitted for firing hot shot. A few 9-inch shot with extra windage were cast for hot shot. No other solid shot were on board during the fight. The engines were the same the vessel had whilst in the United States navy. They were radically defective, and had been
- ↑ "Recollections of a Naval Officer," by Capt. W. H. Parker
