be likely to be turned upward by the iron surface,
instead of penetrating. The sloping sides of the house were carried down
beyond the point where they met those of the vessel, until two feet
below the water. There they turned and struck in at the same angle
toward the hull, which they again met six or seven feet under water.
Thus was formed all round the ship a knuckle, which, being filled-in
solid and covered with iron, was a very perfect protection against any
but the most powerful ram. The Tennessee herself was fitted with a beak
and intended to ram, but, owing to the slender resources of the
Confederacy, her engines were too weak to be effective for that purpose.
She could only steam six knots. Her battery, however, was well selected
and powerful. She carried on each side two six-inch rifles, and at each
end one seven-inch rifle--six guns in all. There were, besides the
Tennessee, three wooden gunboats, and Farragut was informed that there
were also four ironclads; but this, as regards the lower bay at least,
was a mistake.

It will be seen from this account, and from the description before given
of Mobile Bay, that the advantages of the Tennessee were her great
protective strength, a draught which enabled her to choose her own
position relatively to the heaviest of the enemy's ships, and the
superior range and penetrative power of her guns, being rifles; for
while there were cannon of this type in the United States fleet, the
great majority of them were smooth bores. The ironclads opposed to her
had only smooth-bore guns, incapable of penetrating her side, and
therefore only able to reduce her by a continued pounding, which might
shake her frame to pieces. The chief defects of the Tennessee as a
harbor-defense ship, for which she was mainly intended, were her very
inferior speed, and the fact that, by an oversight, her steering chains
were left exposed to the enemy's shot. This combination of strong and
weak points constituted her tactical qualities, which should have
determined the use made of her in the impending battle.

Although the ironclads were, as Farragut esteemed them, the controlling
factors in the defense and attack, the Tennessee was by no means the
only very formidable obstacle in the way of his success. Except the
ironclads, the fleet he carried into Mobile Bay was not substantially
stronger than that with which he fought his way up the Mississippi; but
since that time the enemy had done much to st