The _Monongahela_ was the first to reach the monster, struck her fairly, and, swinging around, let fly with a broadside of 11-inch shot, which dropped harmlessly from her mailed side.

Undaunted, the _Monongahela_ rammed her again, though she received ten times as much damage as she inflicted.

The _Lackawanna_ passed through a somewhat similar experience but a gunner drove a 9-inch shell into one of the shutters, which was shattered and forced within the casemate.

The crews were so close that they taunted each other through the portholes and even hurled missiles across the brief intervening space.
At this juncture the _Hartford_ arrived, charging full speed upon the ram, which so shifted its position that the blow was a glancing one.
Recoiling, the flagship delivered its most tremendous broadside, doing no harm, while the _Hartford_ itself was pierced again and again by the exploding shells which strewed her deck with dead and dying.

Nothing daunted, Farragut prepared to ram once more, when his ship was badly injured by an accidental blow from the _Lackawanna_.