Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/92

wooden sloop of 1030 tons. She carried two 11-in. smooth bore guns, four 32-pounders, and one rifled 30-pounder. Her crew numbered 160. The 'Alabama' was also a wooden vessel of 1040 tons. Her armament consisted of one 8-in. smooth bore, one 7-in. rifled gun, and six 32-pounders. She carried 150 men. Beyond stowing away her top hamper and making the preparations for action common to rigged vessels she took no special precautions. The 'Kearsage,' on the other hand, had suspended her spare chain cables up and down the side, opposite the boilers and machinery, thus giving armour protection to that important locality and a large portion of the hull at the water line. The chain was covered over with a thin casing of wood, which effectually concealed what was beneath. This method of adding to the defence of wooden ships had been first adopted by Admiral Farragut when passing hostile forts in the Mississippi the same year. As against the guns and projectiles of that time, and especially as a preventive to the penetration of shells, by causing them to burst outside, the plan was ingenious and effectual. The same procedure was open to Captain Semmes, but for some reason he did not adopt it, nor does he appear to have been aware of this move of his opponent. Though Semmes afterwards sneered at an enemy 'who went out chivalrously armoured to encounter a ship whose wooden sides were entirely without protection,' such utilisation of the resources of a ship to improve her defensive capability was not only perfectly justifiable but the plain duty of a commander desirous of ensuring the