The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-05 00:00:00

that science is a.'so transitie‘ nary, the ship builitoll
the transport of raferehandise.may be employougoo
she is worn out, I,7lailet the vt. 'see]. of war
at once useless in the presence of more fermium
rivals. Now, it has happened that, since tits;
mination of the wars of the first French Et
the art of building ships of War has underocii
such frequent changes that the maritime v.:al
of the world have, though during a pert
uninterrupted peace, been compellod to rebuilkt,
navies several times. When steam' supersede!d!
exclusive use of sails, and paddles were cool;
the beet, if not the only, means by which :10
could be applied as a motive power, ever WV
vessel turned out of a Government dockyL‘r" "ot
paddle-box steamer. In time paddle-boXes 4°,1
place to screws, and again the fleets of Europe
0
remodelled. Soon after it was discovered tne,l
power of s!aips was by no means proportion%ei
their size, and thereupon the ships-of-the'll'o
which maritime nations took so great a pride, ~
for whose construction they paid no inconeidery,
sums of money, were cut down and reduced toy's
;:igate size. Then came the age of armour-0,0
yes„-Is of war, The employment of iron and Ili
as a Ins?ans of protection to the hulls of ye, 0
occasioned the most serious and the most costilk
ages in the science of shipbuilding W. le
eeted in late years. Sa soon as Ito.
allha vteh the
e,ft
that a single armour-plated T.
eoz44earative impunity, destroy Oil
came manifeel:
could,
im,nrovided with similar naset
tire fleet of sh'ips
eimbent on every marl.,
defence, it became foe
I
nation desirous of malefie'
ining its previous P
on the seas to construct a sufficient number 0
new class of vessels to ectnigeensate for the ass'
inutility of their existing Afteo6- fedWerhatene ir the
ligence of the exploits of the Oen:
the Merrimac, in Hampton roach; reeiched this eu;it
try, the limes stated that the navy .4 Greal
on•S
tain was virtually reduced to a single vessel,
Warrior, the ship now about to be dismain.- „of
although this was the language of exeggeratie
furnishes a tolerable index of the state of rill
opinion on the respective merits of wooden ei
iron-plated ships of war. The French Governfrigi
even before the incomparable advantages of 0000
clad frigates were thus conclusively demonstrs*
had set about the construction of several of
description of vessel, and we were, as a letir
matter of precaution, compelled to follow led
example. At the close of the Parlian3ee?;
Session of 1861 ksupplemental vote of a Vet
of a million was granted for this purpose ble{,'
House of Commons without even the semblao4
opposition. The Warrior was the first of hero?
and it is not to be wondered at that she WO:
proved absolutely perfect. Since she was lattei
we have improved upon our first model ; and 09
a perfectly new ship, it is considered that Bile ad
now be submitted to alterations which our 10'0
experience teaches us are essential. This is tiled
explanation which can be given for the order ffil
has been issued by the Admiralty, and virhicod
now on the point of being acted upon. We ere .0,
to the art of building armour-plated vessels'
04
proficiency in it, as in all others,must be dearliorog
chased. But costly experiments should be eildit:
watched, and no department of tha State int': t
in costlier ones than the Admiralty. The stne'r,
Dually voted for the navy estimates are iron'
yet, nevertheless, we always seem to be engskiti
the reconstruction of our fleets. Vessels are bill'ty
an enormous expense, sent to sea for a few inroli
then docked, then dismantled, and then Intituj
again. If any particular case is isolated fro
others, others, it may be easy to demonstrate that the e
k
taken by the Admiralty is uneXceptionableteo
one is nevertheless induced to question wnetb„oo
meny costly failures cannot be avoided. W 0
lag behind in the terrible race of competition rorti
is forced upon us by other States, but it is
of consideration whether we cannot afford to rid
occasionally before committing ourselves t° Pip
cular schemes whose value has not been eta°
tested. We cannot suppose that even 09.00
armour-plated vessel we have placed upon the:o4;
will never be surpassed, but before building e',loo
like her we ought to be tolerably well coe'aft,
that she and they will answer all the parpos'iii/
which they are intended. We must pay beecn-ecti,
order to maintain that naval supremacy a° ",,fatij
sary to cur national independence, but "
We coot
right to demand from those whom we Ine,l
stewards that the money which we grant 0
lingly shall not be thrown away.