On the morning of 27 February the ship entered the East River preparatory to leaving New York, but proved to be all but unsteerable and had to be towed back to the navy yard. Upon examination, the steering gear controlling the rudder had been improperly installed and Rowland offered to realign the rudder, which he estimated to take only a day. Ericsson, however, preferred to revise the steering gear by adding an extra set of pulleys as he believed it would take less time. His modification proved to be successful during trials on 4 March. Gunnery trials were successfully performed the previous day, although Stimers twice nearly caused disasters as he did not understand how the recoil mechanism worked on Ericsson's carriage for the 11-inch guns. Instead of tightening them to reduce the recoil upon firing, he loosened them so that both guns struck the back of the turret, fortunately without hurting anybody or damaging the guns. Ericsson's revolutionary turret, although not without flaws, was a unique concept in gun mounting that was soon adapted and used on naval ships around the world. His "Monitor" design employed over forty patented inventions and was completely different from any other naval warship at the time. Because "Monitor" was an experimental craft, urgently needed, hurriedly constructed and almost immediately put to sea, a number of problems were discovered during her maiden voyage to Hampton Roads and during the battle there. Yet "Monitor" was still able to challenge "Virginia" and prevent her from further destroying the remaining ships in the Union flotilla blockading Hampton Roads. During the "boom time" of the Civil War, Ericsson could have made a fortune with his inventions used in "Monitor", but instead gave the U.S. government all his "Monitor" patent rights saying it was his "contribution to the glorious Union cause". "Monitor"s crew were all volunteers and totaled 49 officers and enlisted men. The ship required ten officers: a commander, an executive officer, four engineers, one medical officer, two masters and a paymaster. Before Worden was allowed to select, assemble, and commit a crew to "Monitor", the vessel had to be completed. The original officers at the time of "Monitor"s commissioning were: Four of the officers were Line officers and responsible for the handling of the vessel and operation of guns during battle, while the engineering officers were considered a class unto themselves. In "Monitor"s turret, Greene and Stodder supervised loading and firing of the two 11-inch Dahlgrens.