Depositions of Russell and Ellis., the 7th day of July, 1863

Depositions of Russell and Ellis.

We, William Hayden Russell, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, in the United States of America, master mariner, now at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, in England, and Joseph Ellis, of No. 161 Athol street, in Liverpool aforesaid, master shipwright, make oath and say as follows :

1. I, the said William Hayden Russell, for myself say, I have been in command of American merchant vessels for the last thirty years, and for the last eighteen years I have commanded packet ships trading between New York and Liverpool; I have frequently been on board British and American vessels-of-war of all classes, and I am well acquainted with their mode of construction.

2. I, the said Joseph Ellis, for myself say, I have been regularly brought up to the business of a shipwright, and I have assisted in the construction of ironclad vessels-of-war.

3. And we, the said William Hayden Russell, and Joseph Ellis, for ourselves, say as follows:

On Saturday last, the fourth day of July instant, we were present in the ship-building yard of Messrs. Laird & Company, at Birkenhead, when an iron-clad steam-vessel built by them was launched.

4. The vessel in question was one of the iron-clad steam-vessels built along side of each other, at the southern end of the yard, and which appeared to be in all material respects similar to each other.

5. Before the said vessel was launched, we carefully examined her externally. We walked along the whole length of the vessel within seven or eight yards of her, and saw the whole structure of the vessel from the keel upwards.

6. The said vessel is, to the best of my judgment, about 230 feet long, with from. 38 to 40 feet beam. She is covered with iron plates from the point of a ram, or piercer, projecting from her stem, to within about 20 feet from her stem. We saw an iron plate, which one of the foremen in the yard informed us was prepared for the other of the said iron-clad vessels, and similar to the plates upon the vessel which we saw launched. The thickness of such plate was about 4½ inches. The said vessel had a space at the stern covered over with an iron-plated house, of great strength, and there was a large space forward, apparently intended for a forecastle, which was also covered with a similar iron house.

7. The ram or piercer which we have mentioned is a prolongation of the stem of the vessel, projecting about seven feet from a perpendicular line drawn from the upper part of the stem. It is of immense strength, and is so placed that when the vessel is in sea-going trim, with her engines and stores on board, the upper part of it would be, as far as we can judge, two or three feet below the surface of the water.

8. On the quay, near the said vessel, and also in Messrs. Laird & Company’s yard, we saw two circular iron turrets in the course of construction, such as would be used for carrying turret guns on board such a vessel. The diameter of each of these turrets, as well as we could judge, was about 20 feet. The frames of these turrets were of iron, of great strength, placed about 15 inches apart from each other, and they were evidently prepared to receive planking and iron plating.

9. The said vessel was built in all respects as an iron-clad vessel-of-war, and is armed, as above mentioned, with a projecting ram or piercer for the purpose of destroying and sinking other vessels. We have no hesitation in saying that the said vessel is an iron-clad ram of the most formidable description, and cannot be intended for any purpose but that of war.

W. H. RUSSELL.

JOSEPH ELLIS.