European Navy's around 1865

From which other engagements?

Due to the Virginia's low speed due to the deatruction of the smokestack. You need momentum for a ramming.

Very interesting Nick.

Just a thought - the hybrid of steam and sails aboard what were essentially still partially-wooden sailing ships loaded with powder and shot must have been every captain's nightmare.

By the US I think. Actually I think there was one built in 1815 by Fulton.

Originally posted by Delenda est Roma Fulton's final design was the Demologos the world's first steam driven warship built for the US Navy for the war of 1812. The vessel was not completed until after his death and renamed the Fulton in his honor. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulton#section_2

The most interesting thing about this vessel is the concept that two cannons aboard this vessel could launch 100 pound shot underwater against the hull of an enemy.  Fulton may have been a brilliant steamship designer, but he obviously knew nothing at all about the weapons of war.

I'm equally puzzled by his propulsion concept - a single very large paddle wheel turning between two hulls with a very low top speed.  According to what I have read, this ship could barely manage a walking pace - 4 mph - at full steam.  That doesn't seem useful for either defense or offense, although the ship was designed for harbor defense and may have been intended as a sort of monitor or blockade vessel.

BTW - your link isn't working.

Rough plan of the Demelogos: note the awkward placement of the central paddle.






Edited by Mountain Man - 20-Aug-2012 at 20:28

A central paddle was better protected from enemy fire. I imagine the steam engine was only used in battle, treacherous coastal areas, or when sailing against the wind

On the contrary: they saved a lot of coal on long-distance ocean crossings. It wasn't until the late 19th century when steamships were big enough to carry enough fuel, and even then they had to stop at coaling stations

Not really. Masts neither helped nor hindered Victorian warships as they used steam power in battle

Ramming is generally a bad idea due to the crew and marines aboard the vessel being rammed, who suddenly have a terrific incentive to board and capture the ramming vessel.  In addition, it was not unknown for the rammming vessel to become trapped by the hull of the targeted vessel and become unable to disengage.

Civil War ironclads are actually an entirely different breed of fish, having absolutely awful sea-keeping qualities, the turreted variety having pretty much a zero freeboard, and neither of them being all that maneuverable in terms of engine power.

The Parrot Gun and other rifled muzzle loading cannon were formidable weapons, but had a slow rate of fire as opposed to the traditional broadside of forty guns or so, and the ironclads remained vulnerable to having their decks swept by enemy fire and their rudder shot away, which BTW persisted into the 20th century and caused the sinking of the Bismarck.

Muzzle loading weapons, meanwhile, exposed the gun crews to a literal hurricane of shot and shell and was a precarious way to make a living.

For the crew, the sheer noise level inside of an ironclad under attack was enough to literally drive men mad, bursting eardrums and rendering speech and thought impossible, and although the hull armor plates might have been impervious to enemy fire, the riveted seams were not.

Being "ironclad" was an advantage, but not enough to ensure victory by itself.