Civil War era ships

Wouldn't the USS Monitor as well as submarines made during the Civil War come to mind when the sailors saw the Nautilus? Maybe the Secretary of Marine wasn't as up on technology as the Secretary of the Navy. :) I can only conclude that the Secretary of Marine was in charge of wildlife and resources found in the oceans. He must have been the opposite of the Secretary of the Interior--the Secretary of the Exterior, or should that be of the Subterior, but then we would be back to subs, which didn't seem to be his department.