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

PROPOSED s NEW IRONCLADS.

Though Mr.. I ed has concentrated all his
efforts as a na vai constructor on his special
vessels, the Beldero: phon and Penes, and on his
improvements on to e Royal Ode class of heavy
armour-frigates, t exemplified in the power and
dimensions of th . Lord Warden and the Lord
Clyde, let these fou r are by no mean's the most
original of his deeigs is. For the most part, they
are only groat imp: cs eements or developments of
Our first ideas oat armour-ships. The develop-
ments are great, the improvements we are willing
to admit are of: esse etial importance ; but the
germ of the ideas on. which they are founded
existed in all our nay' r yards, and in most of our
peivate yards too. A, sy private firm can now de-
i» n and build. a frioette of the Warrior class,
and we know from the experience of the Achilles
at Chatham shit private firms can build them
very much more craickly than Government
yards, which are only lseginning their apprentice-
ship' at iron ship-building, But what no private
yard off, red to do, and what it was thought almost
impossil:de to accompash, is that which Mr. Reed
has actually performed in building and coating with
C-inch armour wooden sloops no larger than the
collier barks which crowd the pool below London-
bridge. The diffi.culty thus overcome is very much
greater then 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 lengof the hull, then seaworthiness and
swiftness cc add only be secured in vessels of the very
largest descln.ption. But, by shortening the battery
and confining- the guns to the centre of the ship, the
extra.ordinaio 7 weights and dimensions could be re-
duced, and stech ease given to the stem and stern as
would add ge eatly to the buoyancy of the whole
hull. As then 3 ships, however, would have to en-
dure heavy wet dher, and, in case of war, very heavy
fighting too, it -was necessary to consider what their
condition would be with their unpiated ends water-
logged, and. to retake the length of the protected part
in the centre sufficient to bear up the stem and
stern when their own buoyancy was destroyed.
Upon this principle the Warrior, Black Prince,
Defence, addlßesistance were designed ; but the two
latter, though more than double the tonnage of
Nelson's Victory, were found to be the smallest
which would satisfy these conditions. If, therefore,
smaller seagoing vessels were to receive the protec-
tion of iroo armour, it was evident that even the
system, partial as it was, must be given up. The
iron wali rt quired for the safety of the guns and
gunners must be reduced in length, and the safety
of the lower part of the hull, near the water-line
provided f et- by a simple armour belt from five to
seven feet wide, so disposed as to protect the machi-
nery and all beneath it, the nigh or gun wall of the
battery beireot shortened by only containing the
smallest nunater of guns, but all of the very heaviest
calibre used in war. The attempt to fulfil all these
conflicting coneditions has been made by Mr. Reed
in the Enters:ise, the smallest class of seagoing
veeisels of war, the sloop which is to be plated with
the same armotte as that which covers the Warrior—
inches. This -vessel, which will be launched early
next month, is or only 950 tons builders measurement,
and was intende dto carry 17 32 pounder guns. This
number of guns was at once reduced to four, and
the number of t he crew from 165 to 100. This great
reduction in thelnumber 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 grins actually to be mounted in this ship are
110 pounder a, 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-
structive in their action. But in thus transforming
a small 17- gun wooden sloop into a 4-gun ironcased
sloop, a saceifice of speed was inevitable. The weight
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. 'The speed of the Enterprise under steam
alone will be, it is hoped, between 9 and 9-.1 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 extremities
light and buoyant. The concentration of the bat-
tery had already done much towards this end. Still
further to promote it special bow and stern chase
guns were dispensed 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 course 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
preceding description is concerned, the hull of the
ship might have bees constructed entirely of wood,
as that of the Research, recently launched at Pem-
broke, actually is ; but it was decided that the un-
walled portions of the Enterprise absve 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 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 cLearly and wed.
In respect, therefore, to the arrangement of the
decks the Research and Enterprise differ. The dif-
ference affects veey 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
, 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
bandy than the Enterprise, and the fact that the
't weeu 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-line. Neither of these points,
however, involves the safety of the ship or her war-
like efficiency, and should trouble arise from either
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-line to
the roof of the battery, are loopholed for musketry,
both over the upper deck and between de
that should the vessel be boarded the boardees,rkscano
effect a lodgment inno part of the ship outside the
battery, either tin deL,
ex-
prised to
constant lire or below, without being ex-
During action the 'tureen
in within' the battery,
til decks,
which will be the
ordinary berthing place 'or
will be
quite deserted, the whole ofm themenend beingtfi st'thin the
walls, either in the battery, or immediately below it,
purpose of bringing
.
under the armour belt. For the
the w'nole of the lower part of the rs
aperiotno commu-
nication nication with the battery when in
secure perfect ventilation, a wide central passa e
runs entirely through the ship
below the lowerg
action, large ventilating hoods are
deck, and, as all the hatchways of this deck are
eloped in during
fitted for down dra.nghts at both extremities through
the deck, and a current of air is established by the
fornacee and by Schiele's blast-fan, the soaee
round the funnel forming a double upcast shaft.
The central paeeage commenced forward, at the