I’ve always enjoyed looking at historical photographs. I like to see people standing patiently for the long exposure needed for a photograph in 1860, and I wonder what their lives at that moment must have been like and how a state=of-the-art photograph must have been an exciting diversion. But then I suppose people had more time on their hands back then, too.
I read about the history of the steam powered ships and how steam propulsion was added to sail ships which soon revolutionised trade and transport.
It was good for the navies of the world too, because it meant that ships could manoeuvre better and were much faster, which is useful if you’re in a naval battle. But cannons were getting better and stronger too, and they could shoot a cannonball further. So even if you were a fast ship it didn’t make you impervious to an attack.
As technology and the industrial revolution was rapidly advancing, it was leaving the wooden ships far behind. It would take six to twelve months to manufacture a sailing ship so by the time one was finished it was probably obsolete: surpassed by steam propulsion for a start. They began cladding the wooden ships in wrought iron to protect them. Before too long, they started to manufacture them from steel altogether, as sails were superseded in favour of steam and propellers.
At the time of the American civil war, north and south had navies full of sailing ships made from wood. Someone had the idea of retrofitting them with iron cladding: they removed their masts and sails, razing them to their hulls. Now, these steam powered, low profile ironclads could withstand a lot of damage.
Although none exist complete today, there are photographs of them and they look unseaworthy at best. Formidable black shapes, with portholes for the cannon running down each side. The underlying traditional ship shape is just about noticeable. Arches where paddle wheels sit are a clue too of their past life. Reading further, with all the added weight from the ironcladding, they manoeuvred poorly, and were still quite slow. A sailor working inside the ironclad would have the heat from the engines and the racket of the guns firing to contend with, and they would have to do it all in a small, dark, noisy and crowded space. It is certainly a precursor to the WW1 tank.
But even with all these modern advances, it would take ages to load a cannon after firing (maybe twenty minutes) so a battle would last an eternity with lumbering ironclads peppering each other with shot until they depleted their ammunition and had to slowly return to resupply. I think there must have been a lot of waiting around for things to happen. In fact, some battles would become spectator events with people watching safely from the shore.
But then I suppose they had much more time on their hands back then.
The drawings above were based on photographs and lithographs of ironclads. There is a lot of artistic license used with detail in these drawings. The crew is of the USS Monitor which was the first ironclad commissioned by the Union Navy.
