... attainment of high speed and the buoyancy to support the weight of iron applied without an inconvenient increase of draft. John M. Brooke, Lieutenant C S. Navy. Witness: George Minor, Commander, C S. N. Charles J. Ost. Mr. Porter continues: But his patent was not contested by the builder of the Merrimac, because no one would have thought of building such a vessel with submerged ends except as a...