The USS Monterey in Sea Trials
By Patrick McSherry
The image shows the forward deck of the MONTEREY
while she was undergoing sea trials in San Francicso Bay in January of
1893. The deck is awash because she is in "fighting trim." The vessel was
provided with trim tanks that, when filled with water, would lower the
vessel in the water until she had only a few inches of freeboard. This
would reduce her size as a target, and the water would act as "additional
armor" protecting her below decks. The shed-like structure was a temporary
structure built over the forward hatch.
Bibliography:
(As a service to our readers, clicking on title in red
will take you to that book on Amazon.com)
Alden, Cmdr. John D., USN (Ret.), American
Steel Navy , (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press, 1972)
95.
