Not having naval knowledge, per se, one wonders if a monitor type ship would be a capable design for open water? I should think that its lower profile would be advantagous compared to a 'normal' ship from a concealment perspective providing one could waterproof the upper structure to prevent swamping. In reality, it'd be almost like a surfaced submarine, but subs are infamous for low profiles compared to surface ships.
Regards,
John
No offense, John, but probably not. What you gain in stealth is lost in much reduced flexibility. From what I've read, the closer a gun is to the water, the harder it is to
work in any kind of sea. Waterproofing the upper structure will keep the crew dry enough, ( though you might eventually run up against the same problem as a sub-
running out of air. ) At the height most monitor guns are placed, you'd run into problems with the waves getting in the way.
Now, I could see high angle fire, coupled with something like a towed balloon, possibly being effective, but there you're talking about gun carraige design that doesn't
start showing up much before the end of the Monitor's popularity...
This is all written from considering the American Civil war period monitors- the American monitors of the early 20th Century had their guns mounted a
bit higher, and were capable of much higher elevation than their Civil war ancestors-but as far as I know, they were still intended for relatively calm waters
close to shore-their hulls weren't deep enough for the heavy seas of the open Ocean..