special shell that can go through any sort of plating. and he sends in all sorts of drawings, most of which look terribly complicated and not very workable. jesse strum writes in to the president and says that i have a specialty shell that can destroy the monster from the deep from richmond. the only sticking point is the special shells cost $500 to $1,000 each. but strum says, well, that's only a pron because it really will take only one or two shells to destroy the enemy. and if you don't like that idea, he says how about a spar cannon you that could have a cannon on a spar, that it would crank up over the prow of whatever ship and fire down through the "merrimac's" roof and go all the way through the keel and sink her that way. another theory that's floated is using concentrated fire. somehow getting groups of

cannons to zero in on one exact point on an enemy. again, sounds wonderful in theory. several people write in with the same idea. none have really a guaranteed way of how they can make this actually happen. and of course also very popular are underwater cannons. these are very big. and i apologize in advance for some of my illustrations here. some were taken with my iphone camera. so they're not terribly great quality. others are taken from the microfilm. we haven't gotten the actual color copies yet. but in this case you do have color. and some of these illustrations are beautifully rendered. but 19th century northerners seem to be obsessed with this idea of the underwater cannon. basically, the modern equivalent, i suppose, of the torpedo tube.

and there are, again, a wide variety of selections of how you can make this a reality. that you have r.a. wilder writing in saying, what we need to do are sling two cannons again to the bow of the monitor and then get up close to the enemy and fire into the hull. you also see john quayne basically just hangs the cannon off the prow of a ship and again, these cannons would be fired electronically, or using an electrical charge. again, sounds wonderful. it's a very sort of 20,000 leagues under the sea. in fact, i believe that disney -- the ship in that disney film was based on some of these drawings that are found in the naval records. one of the more -- one of the many impractical ideas that is floated is one by j.h. kent, who says basically we need this

underwater shelf attached to the prow of the "monitor" and those are three underwater cannon that you would approach the "merrimac," shove this drawer under the "merrimac," and blow it to kingdom come from underwater. again, lovely idea. i don't know how, you know -- i'm sure ericsson would have fainted had he seen such a thing attached to his vessel, not to mention i think it would have, you know, been completely unworkable to say the least. f.j. bidwell writes in saying that while -- how about embedding a heavy gun in the false prow of a tug and in a sense fire through its own hull and sink the "merrimac" that way? torpedoes are also -- and i use torpedoes in the 19th century sense. using spar torpedoes to destroy the "merrimac" is also extremely popular. this idea, which in a smaller

with way is actually used during the civil war, if you think of cushing's attack on the albemauer, that is how it is sunk. by using a more scaled down version of this spar torpedo. again, the "monitor" could eliminate it that way. you also have alan smith writes in with an extremely detailed plan. again, i don't know how it would work. that the "monitor" would be equipped with this burr torpedo that has prongs on it and would be basically shoved into the "merrimac's" hull or he even -- again, how it would be possible in 1862 i don't know. you have basically a motor attached to this little torpedo that operated drills where it would drill itself into its enemy. and then the explosion of course would destroy it.

there's also what i call the flying torpedo. this idea, you attach a torpedo to a chain and a cannonball. you fire the cannonball over the "merrimac" with just enough power to skim the roof. that would then pull the torpedo through the air right up to the "merrimac's" hull and then once again you could destroy her that way. even from the interior department, the census bureau technically, you have joseph kennedy writing in with -- he has several beautiful illustrations that the monitor needs to tow a torpedo and then release it at some point in the channel. and as the "merrimac" comes down, it would sail over this torpedo and the monitor again would discharge it from a safe distance. there's also the idea of having a torpedo on chains. and you have two tugs that are

chained together. the torpedoes are in the middle. and that when the "merrimac" came down again these two tugs in a sense would sail in the opposite direction and create a gigantic trip wire. also not terribly practical. speaking of non-practical, jay payne writes in with the same sort of idea. you have the torpedo in the center. you have these two tugs on either side. and you have a small boat in which you have several soldiers and several soldiers dressed as women pretending to be dressed women pretending to be a pleasure party. why someone would be sailing in the middle of a possible naval conflict, i don't know, but then they would, using a telescope, be able to tell when that floating torpedo was getting close to the merrimac. the two tugs would make for the hills and then basically pull the torpedo under the merrimac and that would be it.

these people usually have more than one good idea per letter. he also said, if you don't like that idea, how about creating a false snout for the monitor that, again, is loaded with explosives. it somehow hooks onto the merrimac and you destroy it that way. a more simplistic way -- and also using retractible torpedo fences, that's another one that a lot of people write in somehow that you can create this barrier of torpedos, and the confederates do something similar, for example, in mobile bay. but these are very complicated, they're self-raising and lowering, rather ingenius if impractical. then the suggestion is made, why not just use basic fishing nets and string fishing nets across the channel, regular nets, rope

or even chain, and these will be sucked into the merrimac's propellor, it will be rendered immobile and a sitting duck. problem solved. in fact, the head of the army suggests the same thing to his friend, what do you think about trailing this hausser and ruining the propellor that way? no, that's really not going to work. there aren't enough nets and it's really not going to work to do such a thing to destroy the merrimac that way. submarines are also proposed by quite a few people that, again, going with your 20,000 leagues under the sea motif, a number of these submarines, again, are very clever and totally

impractical. in fact, you have an individual cc coe writing in saying, do you wish the merrimac destroyed? i can do it, but my methods are secret and submarine. i can do it but i can't tell you -- but if england assaults are blockade, i can destroy her fleet in one day. as wild a claim as the telegraph once was but also true. the navy did take a chance on a submarine. although i should talk about this one just for a moment. another individual wrote in saying, well, how about a glass-bottom boat that -- if you can see the little individual there, that this boat would be used to remove torpedoes and obstructions, that from 10:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon on a sunny day, you can see deep enough in the water

to supposedly undo these enemy obstructions. and apparently also a one-man submarine as well. but the one submarine the u.s. government does invest in is proposed by brutus devillaroy. he is a french immigrant. also, if you remember warner brothers cartoons, wile e. coyote, devillaroy just puts on his torpedo master brilliance. so he is convinced he is brilliant, and there is also the alligator. the alligator is brought down to hampton roads at one point but also is not terribly workable. the navy officers who command it

finld th find that, yes, it submerges but it goes straight to the bottom. it does not float very well, doesn't answer its helm. it's got all these different problems. and they tinker with it for about two years. in fact, the alligator is being sent to charleston off of cape hatteras, very close to where the monitor went down just almost about a year before. commando raids are also very popular. this idea that -- in fact, even very level-headed montgomery megs first suggest we need to take out the merrimac in an emergency, let's just put different men on different ships, have them jump on the merrimac and throw grenades down the smokestack. the merrimac smokestack exercises -- it's an object of

singular fascination by a number of writers who view it as this achilles heel, this fatal link in the rebel's armor who could handle immediate destruction if only handled properly. in fact, a number of people write in with this idea, let's send in 10 or 50 or whatever number men, some of them wearing india rubber shoes to be able to run up the cape and sometimes carrying hooks and ladders, sometimes chisels, to somehow take apart the merrimac smokestack, and they're not going to do anything about this at all. that's what always a mazes me. and, again, throw powder down the smokestack. in fact, g.o. barnes writes in this idea to gideon wells, and he asks wells, write back, tell me what you think. wells probably doesn't write back, but a waggish clerk writes

back, would you like to risk being blown apart before your time? nevertheless, these armchair admirals have this idea that a commando raid could take out the merrimac. in fact, even steele writes in again with the same idea, and midway -- in fact, his commandos, though, would have cork life belts. so once they do their thing, they can not drown if they fall off or are shoved off. but he also, midway through his letter, you can almost sort of imagine the wheels turning, he's saying this, he says, uh-oh, couldn't the rebels do the same thij to the monitor? has anything been done to the monitor's smokestacks to prevent bombs from being thrown in? there is a real risk of that happening. lincoln himself had been warned

of this by none other than john warden, the wounded commander of the monitor. warden was worried this sort of thing could be done, that a commando could jump onto the monitor's deck, wedge tuhe turrent, and capture the vessel somehow doing that. in fact, it's such a valuable weapon we cannot just risk it willy-nil willy-nilly. then there are people who write in offering to destroy the merrimac themselves. they are sort of what i would say 14th century runners of blackwater. for enough money, i will blow up the merrimac. they're very specific about their pricing, too. it's usually about $500,000 to blow up the merrimac. in fact, devillaroy writes in about this also. if you don't like my submarine,

how about i will blow up enemy ships and you will pay me whatever those ships were worth. another frenchman writes in saying -- and again, he's extremely specific, saying that, i'm in france right now, but if the government pays for my expenses, pays for the ship, pays for me to command the ship, i get to pick my own crew, and if i get killed in u.s. service, my aged mother gets a $200 pension for life. oh, and also, if i'm proven to be incompetent and you fire me, i get 160 acres of federal land. so it's win-win, and he also is rather miffed because he writes both the president and the american consul in paris a number of times and doesn't understand why he isn't getting a response, much less round-trip tickets. h. k. lawrence writes into the navy and says, again, i will

destroy the merrimac, the jamestown, and the yorktown within 20 days of this date. $500,000 for the merrimac, $100,000 for the other vessels involved. wells is intrigued enough to say, well, state your plan. and he does so again. hamilton towle also has the same idea. he also says $500,000 for the merrimic. he sees wells personally and wells turns him down. so he he sasays, how about $10, now and $100,000 when i blow up the merrimac? he lessened his price. louis goldsboro writes to his friend saying, what has become of the $100,000 blowing up man?

has his scheme collapsed or is the water too cold? secret inventions are also proposed. in fact, there are people who write in that say, my invention is so unbelievable, i can't tell you what it is. i can give you a rough outline, but i really can't tell you everything, although it can whip anything afloat. and they also insist that i will tell my idea to the president alone, or, if the president is not available, the secretary of war, maybe navy. in fact, louis winterbauer writes in and the navy says, thank you for suggesting your idea, however, we cannot judge it because you gave us no particulars. in fact, everyone wants to get in on the act. lincoln gets a letter from an

unexpected source, a pastor from a baptist church in new hampshire, william sausen, who writes in saying, i have perfected an invention of the most marvelous destructive power that can immediately destroy the most powerful warships at a distance. you, sir, may smile at all this and suppose it is only the dream of an excited brain. but only a few days are needed to convince the world of its reality. the united states will be given the power to resist all the world's navy. and he also says, i am fully willing to do a test and then will sit back and wait for the offers to flood in. well, if shells and other machines couldn't destroy the merrimac, it is suggested, how about using one of nature's basic elements? fire. or fire and patrolling. this idea of turning the monitor into some sort of flame-throwing

vesuvius, equipped the monitor with tanks of in flflammable, benzene, coil oil, naphtha, which is very close to gasoline. you spray the merrimac using fire hoses and then either the fire of her own guns will ignite it or you use a rocket to do so. and that, in a sense, this will take the enemy out with almost no effort. in fact, one of the most elaborate plans sent in was by robert chesebrough. you may have come into contact with him within the last few days. he is the inventor of vaseline.

i was also thrilled to know that how to burn the merrimac was written by brooklyn fire company, so they knew how to start fires. he said what do you sput a $5,000-tank in the monitor, use a force pump, and you spray the merrimac with this fluid. in 15 minutes, her gun deck will be untenable, in 30, there will probably be an explosion. it can be readied in three days, costs about $5,000, and he says, i'm aware that the cry of inhumane warfare will be raised. but, he says, the object is to only induce surrender. as soon as the rebels surrender, then the monitor can switch to spring water and it will wash the flames off. and, again, you will achieve

your ends. if fire couldn't be used, how about live steam? in fact, there are several people who suggest that if you want a dead ironclad, you inject live steam. and you basically do very similar. you have the hoses attached to the monitor's steam drum or a special extra boiler, and you spray live steam through the merrimac's gun ports. and if steam is not practical, let's just use plain water. again, that smokestack was an object of fascination that, again, you use a force pump, you direct these jets of water. i'm sort of imagining the monitor like one of those fire boats in new york harbor with water spraying out everywhere, only in this case it's either naptha or water. if we can get water to go down the merrimac's smokestacks, 10 gallons will basically blow out the furnace doors, scalding

everyone within reach, and no doubt the confederate would surrender in a great hurry. but there was also, then, the fear that what was good for the rebel goose might also be applied to the union gander. and there were fears that this exact same tactic could be used against the monitor. people write in with all different strategems about how to go about destroying the merrimac. some offer basic ideas that navy officers, of course, had already thought of. some say, well, let's use a giant net, as if the merrimac is some sort of large guppy, that it can be scooped up with these tugs and you would grab the merrimac that way. also, to use, again, sort of a

chain lasso that you fire this grappling hook over the merrimac and capture it that way. you have two individuals, edward post, to latch onto the merrimac so she couldn't get away and hammer her in submission that way. or there was the cradling option. again, you use this grappling hook and a chain, you shoot it over the merrimac, it latches ahold, and according to its author, jay miller, that you could then rock the merrimac back and forth until water starts pouring in and it surrenders or sinks. he's not shy about his idea because he says, let this rough suggestion be well studied. reminding gideon wells how simple a thing was david sling

in taking on the goliath. c.l.pasquale has one of the crazier ideas which i call dump and sink in which what you do is you have a 23-wheel cannon on the back of this steamer -- again, look how small the merrimac is in comparison -- you ram the merrimac, dragging with it another cannon falling on the other side, and basically like a large dump truck you would sink the merrimac using, basically, just excess weight. but as i said, there were fears that the confederates could use basically these exact same tactics. you have a number of worried northerners writing in saying, can the monitor defend itself against a vessel that has superior steam power? most of the northern public did not realize the merrimac's

engines were barely able to move it, much less this idea that the merrimac is going to shoot these grappling hooks over the monitor and drag it back to norfolk. and then the rebels would have both ironclads and then the union cause would be lost. in fact, there is an anonymous letter from norfolk that's sent to lincoln saying that this diabolical plan is under way and that, quote, take warning in time. in fact, there was some reality to this. subpoena -- supposedly there were attempts that the confederates would attempt to board the monitor, wedge the turrent, and then use tarps to cover the pilot house and other openings and pour in chloroform. that somehow the union crew

would all be put to sleep and the confederates would capture the ship that way, you know, figuring that nothing else could possibly go wrong with this particular scheme. but, of course, this never happens. the monitor and the merrimac never officially engage again. in fact, it's only fitting that, really, the end of the merrimac comes partially at the i instigation of abraham lincoln. lincoln had received all these letters asking him, cajoling him, and lincoln himself comes down to hampton roads on may 6 to survey the military situation, and he and secretary solomon p. chase and stanton will actually cruise around hampton roads and he's found a spot where the union army can land to capture norfolk. once norfolk is gone, the

confederate ship is untenable. lincoln orders this attempt to be made. in fact, lincoln actually gets to see the merrimac come down the river to investigate some shelling that the union maybe is doing, and there's conflicting reports. the union reports say that merrimac shows up, we withdrew trying to lure her further down so that vanderbilt and the other big rams could get a shot at her where the confederates say, well, the union saw the merrimac come and go fled. they all went to hide under the guns of fortress monroe. the union landing does take place, norfolk does fall, and on may 11 the confederates blow up the merrimac. in fact, solomon p. chase, who finds it sometimes reluctant to praise abraham lincoln writes to

his daughter saying, if lincoln had not come down, the merrimac would probably still be as great a terror as previously. lincoln's presence and his forceful insistence that something be done actually garnered results. but the ghost of the merrimac comes back to haunt the union after the end of the war. again, we think merrimac is blown up, end of story. that's not really the end of the story, because one of the other things i've run across in my wandering through the national archives, the federal government has three contracts after the war with salvage firms to do something about the wreck of the merrimac, which is sort of blocking the elizabeth river's shipping channel. apparently two of the contracts fall through, for whatever reason, and the third contract, which is apparently executed and finished by may 18, 1871, the salvage outfit is not terribly happy. they basically don't make any money at all.

they bring up about 30 tons of wrought iron which largely gets sold for souvenirs, but again, they weren't terribly happy that they thought it would be a much more lucrative operation than it turned out. what was left of the hull and everything was left, but most of the iron was brought up. well, the one portion of this paper that i regret not having to give to you is the confederate response. one thing i really wanted to see is if people in the confederacy are coming up with similar lunatic ideas of how to deal with the monitor. unfortunately, most of those records were destroyed when richmond fell and the confederates burned most of the archives, so unfortunately, i don't have those to give you. a partial answer, of course, can be divined by the structure of experimental ships like the hunley or the use of stationary torpedos. the confederates were