The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-01 00:00:00

PROPOSED NEW IRONCLADS.

Though Mr. Reed has concentrated all his
offsets as a naval constructor on his special
vessels, the Bellerophon and Pallas, and on his
impioveraeats on the Royal Oek class of heavy
armour-frigates, as exemplified in the power and
dimensions of the Lora Warden and the Lord
Clyde, yet these four are by no means the most
original of his designs. For the most part, they
le; only great improvements or developments of
over first ideas of armour-ships. The develop-
mants aro great, the improvements we are willing ,
to admit are of essential importance ; but the
gene o the ideas on which they are founded
existed in all our navy yards, and in most of our
privt.te yards tco. Any private firm can now de-
sign atici build a frigate of the Warrior class,
and eve know from the experience of the Achilles
at Ceatham that private firms can build them
very ranch more quickly than Government
yerds, which are only beginning their apprentice-
saip at iron ship-building, But what no private
yard offered to do, and what it was thought almost
impossible to accomplish, is that which Mr. Reed
has actually performed in building and coating with
4a-inch armour wooden sloops no larger than the
collier barks which crowd the pool below London-
bridge. The difficulty thus overcome is very much
greater than it seems, as a few words will show. As
soon as the necessity for armour ships was admitted
in England after the launch of La Gloire, it was
evident that a certain height of plating, varying from
16ft to 21ft, -would be necessary in most classes of
vessels, and that if this protection was to extend the
whole length of the hull, then seaworthiness and
swiftness co aid only be secured in vessels of the very
largest desexiption. But, by shortening the battery
and confini og the guns to the centre of the ship, the
ertraordin ary weights and dimensions could be re-
duced, and such ease given to the stem and stern as
would add greatly to the buoyancy of the whole
bull. As. 'these ships, however, would have to en-
dure heat 7 weather, and, in case of war, very heavy
fighting too, it was necessary to consider what their
condition-, would be with their unplated ends water-
logged, ,and to make the length of the protected part
in the ,Pentra sufficient to bear up the stem and
stern when their own buoyancy was destroyed.
Upon t his principle the Warrior, Black Prince,
Defences andißeeistance were designed ; but the two
latter, though more than double the tonnage of
Nelson's Victory, were found to be the smallest
waich would satisfy these conditions. If, therefore,
smaller seagoing vessels were to receive the protec-
tion of iron armour, it was evident that even the
system, partial as it was, must be given up. The
iron wall required for the safety of the guns and
gunners mast bo reduced in length, and the safety
of the lower part of the hull, near the water-line
provide for by a simple armour belt from five to
seven ate w ide, so disposed as to protect the machi-
nery and all beneath it, the nigh or gun wall of the
battery being shortened by only containing the
smallest number of guns, but all of the very heaviest
calibre used in war. The attempt to fulfil all these
conflicting conditions has been made by Mr. Reed
in the Enterprise, the smallest class of seagoing
vessels of war, the s'oop which is to be plated with
the same armour as that which covers the Warrior-
-41 inches. This vessel, which will be launched early
next month,is of only 953 tons builders measurement,
and was intended to carry 17 32 pounder gnus. This
number of guns was at once reduced to four, and
the number of the crew from 165 to 100. This great
reduction in thenumber of guns does not necessarily
imply a reduction in the weight of metal thrown in
a broadside, as the guns will be very much larger.
The guns actually to be mounted iu this ship are
110 pounders, throwing a broadside of 2201 b., but
guns may be carried which would equal in weight
of metal thrown the original broadside of the 17-
gun sloop, and would, of course, be far more de-
etructive in their action. But in thus transforming
n small 17-gun wooden sloop into a 4-gun ironcased
incop, a sacrifice of speed was inevitable. The weight
o? propelling machinery was reduced 25 tons, while
the weight of ship to be propelled was increased
200 tons. The speed lost will be from half a knot
to a 1.-not. The speed of the Enterprise under steam
alone will be, it is hoped, between 9 and 91 knots,
err a :Attie over 10} miles par hour.
In order to secure seaworthiness for this little
vessel it was most desirable to keep the extremities
light and buoyant. The concentration of the bat-
ti •ry had already done much towards this end. Still
Plrtikr to promote it special bow and stern chase
guns were dispensed with, and arrangements were
mitcle by which the guns from the protected battery
in. the centre were rendered capable of firing within
12 ,degrees in the course of the vessel, both ahead and
asteru. Under these circumstances it became pos-
Bibb 3 to reduce the amount of material in the frames
and other portions of the structure of the ship before
and abaft the battery. The reduction thus effected
will,, it is believed, render the ship lively in a sea-
way, and ready in obeying her helm. So far as the
preceding description is concerned, the hull of the
ship might have bees constructed entirely of wood,
thatas of the Research, recently launched at Pem,
broke, actually is ; but it was decided that the an-
wailed portions of the Enterprise abeve the water-
line should be built of iron. The introduction of
iron into the hull of a wooden craft gave a still fur-
ther. Opportunity for lightening the ship, as steel
will do in ships of iron. It rendered it possible to
leave the space between decks forward and aft un-
plated, as the materials of construction were, of
course, incombustible. Instead, therefore, of carry-
ing up the iron wall or belt to the roof of this
space, it was only necessary to carry it to its floor,
care being taken to lift the floor well above the
water-line. This arrangement brings the roofs of the
fore and aft 'tween deck spaces above the floor or
the battery, or the gun platform. They are, in fact,
just so much above the gun platform as will allow
the chase guns to fire over them clearly and we I.
In respect, therefore, to iho arrangement of the
decks the Research and Enterprise differ. The dif-
ference affects very sensibly the amount of armour
required for the vessel. In the Research for every
100 tons of material in the hull 40 tons of armour
are required, while in the Enterprise there are only
25 tons.
On this account the Research requires and has a
heavier frame, and is, with only the same powers of
offence and defence, a larger and much more costly
Shia- Since, also, the greater part of the extra
weight of armour in the Research lies towards the
reenities of the ship, she will be less lively and
handy than the Euterprise, and the fact that the
'tween deck space is left uncesed in this latter ship
gives her a further advantage
aver the Research in
lightin anti
the space.
set-off The to these mgany manifest advantages is
the novel and untried,
and therefore to a certain
extent somewhat doubeaul nature of the connection
between the upper and
lower hulle, and the almost
dangercus nearness of the lower part of °
he Pthnts
the unpro-
tected ship to the water-line. Neither
however, involves the safety or the f t
ship
from" ors:"wth'
either
efficiency, and should trouble arise
cause, which there is no reason at present to antici-
pate, it will be confined to temporary personal in.
convenience to the crew on the berthing deck.
In order to complete the description of the powers
of offence and defence possessed by the ship it is ne-
cessary to state that the shot-proof bulkheads Cross-
ing the deck, and extending from the water-lineto
the roof of the battery, are loopholed for musketry,
both over the upper deck and between decks, so
that should the newel be boarded the boarders can
.7.eeZ. a lodgment in no part of the ship outside the
battery, either on deck or below, without being ex-
posed to constant fire frctn within the battery.
During action the 'tween decks, which will be the
ordinary berthing place for men and officers, will be
quite deserted, the whole of them being within the
walls, either in the battery, or immediately below it,
under the armour belt. Fur the purpose of bringing
the whole of the lower part of the ship into commu-
nication with the battery when in action, and to
secure perfect ventilation, a wide central passage
rune entirely through the ship below the lower
deck, and, as all the hatchways of this deck are
closed in during action, large ventilating hoods are
fitted for down dr tights at both extremities through
the deck, and a current of sir is established by the
furnaces and by Sehiele's blast-fan, the space
round the funnel forming a clembha upcast shaft.
The central pissage commences forward, at the

fore platform, and, passing between store-rooms on
either side for sails, provisions, water, chain, and
coals, opens into the stokehold. Between the
stokehoid and theengine-room and immediately
below the battery are the magazine and shellroom.
The passage is continued between these through the
engine-room onwards, both above and below the
roof of the shaft alley, to the extreme after end of
the ship, all the storerooms both forward and aft
communicating with it. In some cases, as in the
provision and water spaces forward, the ordinary
bulkheads are dispensed with altogether, and stan-
chions are substituted, and where this arrangement
was undesirable, iron gratings are made in the upper
part of the partition.
In order still further to provide for efficient ven*
tila.tion, and particularly with a view to the preser•
vation of the frame of the ship, a passage is left
along the wings on each side and beneath the floor-
ing of the several divisions. There is thus scarcely
a foot of the frame of the ship which is not in direct
communication with the central passage, and acted
upon either by the draught of the furnaces or by the
Schiele's fan. Directly below the battery, and over
the magazine and shell room, is a large platform to
be used as a cockpit, communicating by a covered
passage through the engine room with an after
cockpit and dispensary:

The dimensions of this minature ironclad are
only 180 ft. long by 36ft. wide, her engines are to
be of 160 horse power, and her speed is estimated
at nine knots. Though an experimental vessel, the
success of the Enterprise has been secured by the
admirable seagoing performance of the Research,
another ship of much the same class, only 200 tons
larger, which made a successful passage round from
Milford to the Thames. This little corvette carries
five inches of armour, and in the inn round to
the river, though the weather was very rough, she
often steamed 104 knots, rolled easily and not
deeply, turned a full circle in 4 min. 18 sec. in five
times her own length, is well ventilated, buoyant,
and, when equipped for sea, will draw only 14ft. of
water. In our description of this vessel on Friday
we stated that " she carried a broadside of guns
equal in weight to those of the renowned Warrior."
That, as our readers must, of course, have seen, was
an error, and should have been " carried a broad-
side of guns equal in weight to the heaviest of those
of the renowned Warrior." So far, however, she
has established all the principles which her designer
put forward when he began to modify her form
from what she was originally intended to be—a
wooden screw corvette. We cannot help thinking,
nevertheless, that Mr. Reed would have been more
successful in the matter of speed had the lines of
these vessels been from the outset of his own design-
ing.
If the Admiralty have any consideration for
our pockets, they will at once give up the false
economy of endeavouring to coat wooden frigates in
frame with iron—of trying, in fact, to adapt and
work up old materials into a new purpose for which
they were never intended. It makes but a bad
compromise, such adapted vessels, after all, costing
very little less than new, but being infinitely worse.
The French have for the first time last autumn
begun building two frigates which, like our War-
riors and Minotaurs, are to be wholly of iron
from end to end. They have tried plating
wooden frigates with iron, and not finding them
answer, have come back to the point at which we
commenced, and begun building of iron only. With
their costly experience before us, how can our Ad-
miralty hope to be more successful with iron plated
wooden frigates ? As a fact, however, they do not
hope to be entirely successful, but only to make less
conspicuous failures than our French neighbours
have done in La Gloire. The Lord Warden and
Lord Clyde, which are to be built of wooden frames
from Mr. Reed's design, will be magnificent vessels
as far as size and speed, and for a time, perhaps, as
far as strength is concerned. Each of these ships
is to be of 4,000 tons, 1,000 horse power, and each
is to carry two 300 pounders, and 30 100 pounders,
cased in with five inches of iron. But, for the nomi-
nal saving of £lO,OOO, effected by building their
frames of wood, which rots at once under the iron,
the country will eventually have to pay some
£200,000, in the speedy decay of the ships and the
consequent early necessity of replacing them with
others. We need no stronger proof of their real
cost than is to be found in the fact that the French,
who were the foremost supporters of this system of
building, now intend to give it up, and in future
build of iron only.
It is very gratifying to our enterprise and manu-
facturing skill to know that, after the start which
our neighbours got of us in the launch of La
Gloire and La Normandie, we are now ahead of the
French in the number of ships afloat, the number
launched and fitting, and in the number building,
while in the still more important particulars of
strength, size, and speed, the French possess no ships
whatever that can even be named in comparison
with those of the Warrior or Minotaur class of fri-
the list of the iron navies
or building is as follows:
res NOW AFLOAT.
FRENCH.
Solferino
Magenta
Invincible
Couronne
Normandie
La Gloire

gates. Up to the presen
of the two countries heti
ARMOUR-CLAD SI
ENGLISIt.
Warrior
Black Prince
Hector
Valiant
Defence
Resistance
Royal Oak
Prince Consort
Caledonia
Research
RECENTLY LAUNC.
Achilles
Minotaur
Ocean
NEAILLY READY
Agincourt
Royal Alfred
Royal Sovereign
Prince Albert
Favourite
Zealous
BUILDING} IN V.
Northumberland
Lord Clyde
Lord Warden
Bellerophon
Pallas

ISED AND FITTING.
I Provence
Heroine

FOR LANWCRING.
S arveillante
1 Flandres

ARIOUS STAGES.
Savoir
Revanche
Magnaninie
Guyenne
Valeurense
Gau:else

Thus, then, we have ten iron frigates afloat as
against six of the French ; three launched and fit-
ting as against two of the French; six nearly ready
for launching against two nearly ready for launching
in France; and five in various stages of building,
while the French have six in the same condition ; a
total in all of 21 English iron frigates against only
15 belonging to France. In making this comparison,
however, it should in fairness be borne in mind that
of the six French frigates building not one is less
than half finished, while some of ours returned as
building, such as the Bellerophon, Lord Warden,
and Lord Clyde, have, in fact, only just been com-
menced. On the other hand, it is believed that the
French Marine intend to commence no new vessels
this year; while it is to be hoped that at least two
more on the plan of the Bellerophon will be begun
in this country.
Everything of importance connected with the
French ironclad vessels is, as algeneral rule, as
well known to our Admiralty as to the Minister of
Marine in Paris, and the substance of all the
knowledge that has reached this country has only
tended to confirm the belief that, both in a military
and in a mechanical point of view, we took the right
course in turning out vessels of the Minotaur and
Warrior class. To this day they have never been
equalled or even approached. The Solferino and
Magenta, two decked iron frigates, are both slow
and weak compared with any of the ships of this
class, Which are strong and swift enough to disre-
gard almost any kind of fortifications.
h In the list of French armour ships which we
a" given, all, Whether building or built, with the
exception of the two first-named, are frigates or
heavy corvettes, carrying
from 16 to 40 gnus.
The Solferino and Magenta only are two deckers of
the class which in the old
they ime used to be called
T
double banked frigates.
are each rated as
80 gun ships, but, in reality,
carry less, having only
64. All these ships are ordinaryn vessels of
war, frigates so covered without wooden
atthe slightest
attempt to adapt their form to their
new
Their scantling (that is, the thickness
of etla'sirnnleg.
er
behind the plating) is not, as hos been
often
stated, as much as sa. thick, but is neither
more nor less than the thickness of ordinary
men-of-war—that is, from 2ft. in fripates to nit. in
the Solferino and Magenta. The armour plates are
'shorter than ours, and are as nearly as possible
about 4tin. thick. None have grooved edges to