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The Ram Manassas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Manassas
Seeing I've had several ancestors who fought in the civil war, I'm always intrigued with the effectiveness ( good or bad) of primitive war machinery especially the iron clad vessels. The "Rams" were amazing creations. It seem the Manassas especially stands out - 143 ft. long and 33 ft. wide and carrying a cannon that could hurl a 62 lb. shot not counting the 40 ft. iron spike to poke holes in the hulls of the wooden ships... I can't imagine being in a semi-submersible with little ventilation, a cannon, a steam engine and no sound proofing as cannon balls violently hitting the deck. I'd think that if the percussion (even from within) didn't get you, the heat would. Even bracing for the ram could be quite injurious, I'd think. All in all, I'm sure the whole crew was eventually deaf. Interesting portion of the Wiki link: "Manassas then ran into murderous fire from the whole line of the Union fleet. She then charged USS Mississippi and delivered a long glancing blow on her hull, firing her only gun as she rammed. " Amazingly it survived only to run aground and get pounded to it's death. Another good article that has some layouts of the hull .... http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...r/manassas.htm |
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