The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-10-17 00:00:00

ANGULAR IRON-CASED FRIGATES.
Some months ago our naval intelligence recorded
with considerable detail the results of experiments made
by Captain Hewlett, of the Excellent, in ogler to test
the shot-proof powers of a.butt constructed by Mr. Jones,
a Liverpool shipbuilder, upon principles which he pro-
posed applying to the Construction of invulnerable men-
of-war, and Which for that purpose he bad covered by
a patent. The butt, it may be recollected, represented
a portion of a ship's aide sloped from the water-line
upwards at an angle of 52 degrees, and faced with plates
of iron three inches thick. So succestful were these ex-

penmen's that one of the plates took 17 shots on a spec
of 5 feet by 2 feet before any part of it was removed, am._
then the iron was not effectually penetrated nor the
i
woodwork behind t much injured. After this trial,
yielding as it did results quite unparalleled, the next
step for the patentee to take was to demonstrate in the
usual way, by working dyawings and .models, that his
plan was a perfectly prrtic?.l one for ships of war and
capable of being combie,-1 in them with the other in-
dispensable requirements of stability, fighting room on
declfor engines moderate draught of water, stowage accommo-
dationines and coals as well as the crew, and
above all, high velocity. . Mr. Jones has accordingly
produced two models with corresponding drawings,
which leave no room for doubt in any mind of
ordinary intelligence upon any of these points. Impressed
with the importance of the subject, we have examined
it with the greatest care, and we feel satisfied that the
kind of mail clad man-of-war which he proposes will be
practically invulnerable, and that his plan possesses
decisive advantages over that which the Admiralty are
at present carrying this
out. To make clear let us take
*
the largest of Mr. Jones's models, that of a frigate 350
feet long, 63 feet beam, 324 feet in depth, of 6,600 tons
builders' measurement, intended to carry up wards of 50
rifled guns of thelleaviest calibre upon her fighting deck,
to be propelled by engines of 1,200 horses, and, to have
a draught of 20 feet. It is quite a moderate calculation
that such a ship ought to do 14 knots an
.hour. She
would, therefore, have the speed, and, being able to
carry coal for ten days' consumption, might be. made
independent of sails and top gear, which must prove an
immense obstruction and source of danger in any naval
warfare waged under the new conditions imposed upon
us by steam and rifled cannon and from armour. Ima-
gine a fleet of frigates of this class rising
only twelve
feet above the water, and with plated Bides sloping
inwards from stem to stern, at an angle of 50 deg., long
and low, painted it might be to elude observation, sweep-
ing through the sea at an immense pace—a pace beyond
that of our Royal Albert and Duke of Wellington, and
yet able to go close alongside of these wooden sea- castles
and receive, with comparative impunity at least, if not
absolute indifference, all the hammering they could
inflict. If we want to insure our maritime power against
any enemy, it would seem prudent to have some vessels
of this description. The " Warrior" class are open to
many serious objections. To get the requisite amount
of displacement the depth of draught is 27 feet, the
breadth of beam, and the heavily-plated perpendicular
sides seem much less favourable to stability than the
corresponding conditions of the plan proposed by Mr.
Jones.
Then it cannot be doubted that the Whitworth
.80-pounder can drive a flat-fronted homogeneous shot
through wrought-iron plates in a vertical position,
with even a wooden scantling of 22 inches behind
them. Above all, the structural details of the design
upon which the Warrior is built seem unnecessarily
complicated. There are certain positions in which
h
could
ships b
ase
the r raked
Ge
ibr
ey
wouldthe fire
escape
o f aan
uninjured. en y,
Shehe n
such shee
sisnot only a steamer but a sailing vessel, a combination
which we cannot help thinking unadvi;able from the
very moment that practical invnlnerability is secured,
and to navigate and- fight her a very large crew will be
required instead of one of moderate strength. What is
required is to be able to strike the greatest possible blow
upon the sea with the smallest possible risk to the lives
of our brave sailors. Our wooden walls no longer help
us to a solution of that
.problem, but if we can get at it
by the aid of steam and iron, and fail to do. so, we
deserve to lose our naval supremacy.—Tinges.