In many respects the most important branch of steam navigation in recent years has been its war vessels. The great navies of the world at the end of 1898[3] ranked as follows: England, 1,557,522 tons; France, 731,629 tons; Russia, 453,899 tons; United States, 303,070 tons; Germany, 299,637 tons; Italy, 286,175 tons, and they all owe their efficiency entirely to steam. The first steam war vessel was built in 1814 by Fulton for the defence of New York Harbor, during the then existing war times. She was known as the "Demologos" (voice of the people), or "Fulton the First." As shown in the original designs, Fig. 116, she is a double ender, whose sides were to be 5 feet thick. In her middle was a channel way or well containing a protected paddle wheel 16 feet in diameter, 14 feet wide, and having a dip of 4 feet. A single cylinder engine turned the paddle wheel on one side, and was balanced by the boiler on the other side. Although intended to have only twenty guns, she was equipped, when finished, with thirty long 32-pounder guns and two Columbiad 100-pounders. It was proposed also to have submarine guns suspended from each bow. An engine was also to be used to discharge hot water on the enemy, and a furnace was to be provided for heating the cannon balls red hot. She was 156 feet long, 20 feet deep, and 56 feet broad, and was regarded as a very formidable vessel. Her cost was $278,544. Iron-clad floating batteries were first used in 1855 in the Crimean war, and shortly afterward the French built the first sea-going iron-clad, "Gloire," followed in 1859 by the British iron-clad, "Warrior."
[3] The figures represent a selective list which excludes about 15 per cent. of old and inefficient vessels.
Figure I^{ st} Transverse section A _her Boiler,_ B _the steam Engine,_ C _the water-wheel,_
EE _her wooden walls 5 feet thick, diminishing to below the waterline as at_ FF.
_draught of water 9 feet_ DD _her gun deck._
Figure II^{ d} _This shews her gun deck. 140 feet long,
24 feet wide; mounting 20 guns_ A _the Water wheel_
The civil war in 1861 brought with it a novel and striking form of war vessel known as the "Monitor."[4] It was built from plans of Capt. Ericsson, an engineer of the ripest experience, skill, and attainments, who had then come to make his home in the United States. He undertook to construct for the Navy Department of the United States some form of iron clad steam batteries of light draft, suitable to navigate the rivers and harbors of the Confederate States. The "Monitor" was the result. The salient features, shown in vertical cross section in Fig. 117, are a low deck projecting but a few inches above the water line, so as to present as little target as possible to the enemy, and a revolving and heavily armored turret containing the battery of guns. In 1862 the Confederate forces had reconstructed a steam vessel with a chicken-coop-shaped covering of armor, that proved a formidable engine of war, which was practically invulnerable to the attacks of ordinary war vessels, and was doing great damage to the Union vessels. In the spring of 1862 the "Monitor" met the "Merrimac" in engagement in Hampton Roads, and established the great value of the turret monitor.