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