MONITOR, The, an ironclad, the first of a class of naval vessels designated as monitors (see WARSHIPS). It was designed and built for the United States government in 1861-62 under direction of the engineer John Ericsson (q.v.), who adopted as the most essential fea ture of its construction the revolving gun-turret devised by the American inventor, Theodore Ruggles Timby (q.v.). The Monitor was launched at Greenpoint, L. I., 30 Jan. 1862, only 100 days after the laying of her keel. She put to sea 6 March followin, under command of g Lieut. John L. Worden (q.v.), arriving on the night of the 8th at Hampton Roads, Va. Ex traordinary energy had been displayed by the builders to meet a grave emergency of the gov ernment, then weak in naval resources, for making effectual the blockade of Southern ports which President Lincoln had proclaimed, as well as for aggressive action and coast-defense. This emergency soon became a dire peril which threatened the destruction of the Union through superior sea power acquired by the Confederacy with foreign aid or connivance. How this dan ger was first averted is shown in the account of the famous action in Hampton Roads (see MONITOR AND MERRIMAC).
The Monitor was built by a company of men, John F. Winslow and John A. Griswold of Troy, N. Y., and their associates, who were ac tuated by patriotic motives. With T. R. Timby, who had taken out patents cfor revolving towers for offensive or defensive warfare whether placed on land or water,'" they entered into a contract for the use of his inventions covering the revolving turret, paying him $5,000 as royalty on each turret constructed by them. They built the Monitor at their own risk, Wins low and Griswold furnishing 90 per cent and C. S. Bushnell of New Haven, Conn., 10 per
cent of the cost. Ericsson, for his services as engineer, received 5 per cent of the gross sum paid to the company for the Monitor and kindred vessels built by them. A contract with the government was made by the company and Ericsson, and the government paid for the Monitor $275,000, the actual cost being $195,000, The contract with the government provided for the building of ((an iron-clad; shot-proof steam battery of iron and wood combined,'" and the hull of the Monitor was of iron with wooden deck beams and side-projection. Her dimensions were: Extreme length 172 ft.
Extreme breadth 41 ft. 6 in.
Depth of bold 11 ft. 4 in.
Draft 10 ft. 6 in.
Inside diameter of turret 20 ft.
Height of turret 9 ft.
Thickness of turret. 8 in.
Thickness of side-arinor s Thickness of deck-plating 1 in.
Diameter of propeller 9 ft.
Diameter of steam cylinders (two) .36 in: Length of stroke 2 ft. 2 Displacemen t 1 255 tons Armament, two 11-in. shell-guns, each 15,668 pounds.
In all the models, drawings and plans of his invention made by T. R. Timby himself, the pilot house or °lookout" was placed on top of the turret. 'Tor some inexplicable reason," he has said, cthe Monitor had her pilot-house placed upon the deck, forward of the turret, in the way of her own guns.* The success of the Monitor aroused much interest in all maritime nations, and was the direct cause of many modifications in the con struction of vessels in the navies of Europe, though nowhere except in the United States navy was the monitor adopted as a distinct type of warship. During a gale off Cape Hat teras, 31 Dec. 1862, the Monitor was sunk.