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

PROPOSE D NEW IRONCLADS.

Though Mr- -Reed has concentrated
,all his
efforts as a 'atz"Val constructor on his special
vessels, the Bell erophon and Pallas, and on his
improvement es a a the Royal Oak class of heavy
armour-frig.. tea, as exemplified in the power and
dimensions o f the Lord Warden and the Lord
Clyde, yet t use four are by no means the most
original of h in designs. For the most part, they
are only grey t improvements or developments of
oar first ides of armour-ships. The develop-
ments aro gre, t to the improvements we are willing
to admit are %), f essential importance ; but the
germ of tho i h :..as on which they are founded
existed in all o a r navy yards, and in most of our
private 3 ards to o. Any private firm can now de-
eon and build a frigate of the Warrior class,
anti we know fr 3 m the experience of the Achilles
at Chatham tht 6t private firms can build them
very much to wee quickly than Government
yards, which are only beginning their apprentice-
ship at iron shi p-building„ But what no private
yard offered to • 10, and what it was thought almost
impossible to accomplish, is that which Mr. Reed
ht'.s actually pee:formed in building and coating with
4k-inch armour wooden sloops no larger than the
collier barks ich crowd the pool below London-
bridge. The diaßculty 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 afte r the launch of La Gloire, it was
evident that a cm .tain height of plating, varying from
Net to 21ft, woul d be necessary in most classes of
vessels, and that this protection was to extend the
whole length of the hull, then seaworthiness and
ewiftness could only be secured in vessels of the very
largest des.. criptioh. But, by shortening the battery
and confin'ing the guns to the centre of the ship, the
extraordinary weights and dimensions could be re-
duced, and euch ease given to the stem and stern as
would add
.greatly to the buoyancy of the whole
bull. As th ese ships, however, would have to en-
dure heavy a ,eather, and, in case of war, very heavy
fighting too, it was necessary to consider what their
condition wog Id be with their unplated ends water-
logged, and to make the length of the protected part
in the centre sufficient to bear up the stem and
stern when the it own buoyancy was destroyed.
Upon this principle the Warrior, Black Prince,
Defence, andißesintance were designed ; but the two
latter, though mare than double the tonnage of
Nelson's Victory, were found to be the smallest
which woad satisfy these conditions. If, therefore,
smaller sea going veesels were to receive the protec-
tion of iron armour, it was evident that even the
system, pat tial as it was, must be given np. The
iron wall rt quired for the safety of the guns and
gunners mast be reduced in length, and the safety
of the lower part of the hull, near the water-line
provided for by a simple armour belt from five to
seven feet .wE e, so disposed as to protect the machi-
nery and all bcneath 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 viler. 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 sloop 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 moneeh, is of only 950 tons builders measurement,
and was iii tended to carry 17 32 pounder guns. This
umber of nuns was at once reduced to four, and
the number of the crew from 165 to 100. This great
reduction kr thenumber of guns does not necessarily
imply a redaction in the weight of metal thrown in
a broadside, a the guns will be very much larger.
The g-uns actuolly to be mounted iu this ship are
110 pounders, throwing a broadside of 2201 b., but
guns may be cat ried which would equal in weight
of metal thrown the original broadside of the 17- 11
gun sloop, and would, of course, be far more de-
structive in their action. But in thus transforming'
a small 17-gun wooden sloop into a 4.gun ironcased
sloop, a sacrifice of speed was inevitable. The weight 1
of 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 knot. '1 h. 3 speed of the Enterprise under steam
alone will be, it is hoped, between 9 and 91 knots,
or a little over 101 miles par hour.
In order to secure :seaworthiness for this little

vessel it was most desirable to keep the extretnitiez,.
.]fight and buoyant. The concentration of the bat-
tery hadaiready done much towards this end. Stili

further to promote it special bow and stern chase
guns were dl'spensed with, and arrangements were
made by which the guns from the protected battery
in the centre were rendered capable of firing within
12 degrees in. the coarse of the vessel, both ahead and
astern. Under these circumstances it became pos-
sible to reduce the amount of material in the frame
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
przceciing description is concerned, the hull of the
ship might have been constructed entirely of wood,
as that of the aesearch, recently launched at Pem-
broke, actually is ; but it was decided that the nu-
walled portions of the Enterprise ab )ve the water-
line should be built of iron. The introduction of
iron into 'Lhe 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 an-
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 of
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 c:early and we I.
In respect, therefore, to the 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 torts 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
ship. Since, also, the greater part of the extra
'weight of armour in the Research lies towards the
extremities of the ship, she will be less lively and
,handy than the Enterprise, and the fact that the
Lween deck space is left uncased in this latter ship
gives her a further advantage over the Research in
lighting and
ventilating the space;
The set-off to these many manifest advantages is
the novel and untried, and therefore to a certain
extent somewhat doubtful nature of the connection
between the upper and lower hulls, and the almost
dangerous nearness of the lower part of the unpro-
tected ship to the water-lies.
Neither of th points,
o
however, involves the sefety of the shipforreireiwthaerr-
like efficiency, and should trouble arise
cause, which there is no reason at present to antici-
atte, 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-
kg the deck, and extending from the water-line to
the roof of the battery, are loopholed for musketry,
both over the upper deck and between decks, so
that should the vessel be boarded the boarders can
effect a lodgment in no part of the ship outside the
battery, either on deck or below, without being ex-
posed to constant fire from within the battery.
Darien 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. For the purpose of bringing
the whole of the lower part of the ship into commu-
nicetion with the battery when in action, and to
secure perfect ventilation, a wide central passage
rins 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 draughts at both extremities through
the deck, and a current of air is established by the
furnaces and by Schiele's blast-fan, the space
rceind the funnel forming a double upcast shaft.
The central passage commences forward, at the