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| From the old navy to the new: the sloop-of-war “Pensacola,” first in line with Farragut The “Pensacola” was the type of United States fighting-ship that marks the transition from the old navy to the new, consummated by the Civil War. Steam had superseded sail, armor plate was still to come. Farragut could never get used to it, contending that in old wooden ships like the “Hartford” a shot would pass clean through both sides, doing less damage than when penetrating an ironclad. The “Pensacola” formed a splendid type of the steam sloop-of-war, of which the “Hartford,” Farragut's famous flagship, was the latest addition to the navy at the outbreak of the war. When Farragut fought his way past the forts below New Orleans, the “Pensacola” (after the grounding of the “Cayuga” ) was first in line. Her captain, Henry W. Morris, deliberately slowed up and stopped frequently opposite the forts, as did the “Mississippi,” so that their powerful batteries might take effect while the smaller vessels got by. |
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[55]
Review of Reviews. New York. 1912.
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