t time and of the superb organization and distribution of the work
which made possible the completion of such a piece of work in the period
of one hundred working days.

One important fact which goes far to explain this astonishing speed in
design and construction is found in the fact that Ericsson was not
dealing with an entirely new and freshly developed proposition. He has
stated that the thought of a floating battery, which should be small in
size, but impregnable to the heaviest guns known and yet heavily armed
herself, had long occupied his thoughts in connection with the problem
of the defence of Sweden. Ericsson never forgot his native land, and
gave to her political troubles and to the question of her defence
against her more powerful neighbors much serious thought. As a result of
this study, he had produced as early as 1854 a design embodying all the
essential features of the "Monitor," and this design, shown by a model,
was in that year sent to Napoleon III., who was then at war with Russia.
This was in the hope that he might in this way contribute to the
overthrow of the latter, the hereditary enemy of his native land.

The design, however, was not adopted, and after it was returned was laid
aside to collect the dust of his office, until the experiences of the
Civil War brought it again to the light. The plan in all its main
features had therefore long been matured, and it only remained to
proceed rapidly with the details and with the realization of the idea in
the most suitable materials to be obtained.

The result of the battle between the "Monitor" and the "Merrimac" in
Hampton Roads is a part of history. The relentless devastation which the
latter had begun on the old wooden ships of the American Navy at Hampton
Roads was stayed, and the wild fears at the North concerning the
destruction which she might cause to the shipping and to the seaboard
cities was calmed. The "Merrimac" met her master, and retired from the
conflict crippled and shorn of power for further evil. A short time
later she sank beneath the waters of the Chesapeake, and is now
remembered only as the antagonist of the "Monitor."

If the result of this battle between the "Monitor" and the "Merrimac"
marked a turning-point in the naval aspect of the Civil War, it wrought
a no less marked change in the standing and fortunes of her designer.
Some of his engineering efforts had not met with the success for which
he or his friends had hoped.