The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-29 00:00:00

PROPOSED NEW IRONCLAD FRIGATES,

At the commencement of each year we have to
record some change, and generally some improve-
ment in, in the design and construction of our future
fleet of ironclads. Cautiously, by slow but very sure
degrees, do we at last seem to be attaining perfec-
tion in the models which each season brings forth ;
and the reconstruction of our navy is now going
steadily, and promises even to go quickly forward.
It has certainly not been from lack of advice that
the Admiralty has not achieved this gratifying re-
sult long before this, It would be an almost endless
task to recapitulate the names of the inventors and
patentees who in the first difficulty of building iron
ships suddenly felt themselves called upon to give
plans and designs to the Admiralty. Every con-
ceivable crotchet has been in turn listened to, and
in at least two notable instances is about to be fairly
tried. It reflects no small credit on the Controller's
department that amid this multitude of conflicting
counsellors such perfect designs as those for the
Black Prince and Warrior were first given to the
world ; and that in form, and size, and speed,
though not in strength, they were enabled again to
improve upon these with the Northumberland, the
Agincourt, and the Minotaur. But in the vessels
ordered for this year we have in most cases almost
a total change from all that have gone before. The
experience gained in the construction and sailing of
these ponderous craft has gradually developed cer-
tain general rules and principles which were at first
supposed to be diametrically in opposition to all
plans for armour plated sea-going ships. Thus,
then, in the new ships we no longer find the list
restricted to vessels of 5,000, 6,000, or 7,000 tons
and upwards, but learn gladly that we are at last
to have such much-needed craft as small sloops, of
less than 1,000 tons, built of wood, yet carrying
their batteries encased in 41in. of solid iron. It
was thought impossible two years ago to build
such vessels, and even now it sounds strange to
hear of 900-ton ships coated with 41 inch armour,
such, in fact, as the Enterprise sloop will be when
launched next month from Deptford. The Re-
search just launched at Pembroke is another of the
same class. She is a sloop of only 1,250 tons, yet is
coated from end to end with Warrior plates, and
her first trip round from Milford set at rest what-
ever doubts might till then have been entertained as
to the perfect seaworthiness of these small vessels,
covered with such tremendous plating. There was
a heavy gale blowing when she left Milford, which
the Research was able to face easily, though the
Geyser, a wooden paddle frigate, sent to escort her,
could not, and was obliged to ride it out at anchor
in the Haven. The Research came round by sea at
an average speed of 104 knots through rough water,
proved herself light and buoyant, turning quickly
and rolling easily. Yet this sloop, which is only crf
1,250 tons, and draws no more than 14 feet of water,
is more completely plated than even the Warrior,
and will throw a broadside equal in weight to that
of the renowned iron frigate, The changes in our
principles of construction which these vessels mark
so strongly have all been effected by Mr. Reed, the
new Chief Constructor to the Navy, who was the
earliest to deny the necessity for such gigantic ships
as those of the Northumberland class, and to point
out that there was no nautical or scientific reason
why, with certain modifications of design, small
corvettes and even sloops and gunboats should not
be as strongly protected as the largest frigate. For-
tunately, as it seems from the success of the new
vessel, the Research, the Admiralty have in a great
measure adopted Mr. Reed's plans, anil have decided
to let him carry them out after his own manner ; and
10 new ironclads, of all sizes, and to answer various
purposes, are now building, and some nearly built.
These vessels are the Enterprise, sloop, four guns,
990 tons, builders' measurement, and 160 horse
power ; the Research, sloop, 1,250 tons, seven guns,
and 200-horse power ; the Favourite, corvette, 2,372
tons, eight guns, and 400-horse power; the Pallas,
2,372 tons, five guns, and 600-horse power ; the
Zealous, 3,715 tons, 16 guns, and 800-horse power;
the Lord Clyde and the Lord Warden, sister ships,
each 4,067 tons, 32 grins, and 1,000-horse power ;
and the Bellerophon, 4,246 tons, 12 guns,
and 1,000 horse power. Of these eight ships
the Enterprise was originally designed as a
wooden sloop, named the Circassian, and so also
were the Research, Favourite, and Zealous respec-
tively a wooden sloop, corvette and frigate actually
in frame, which Mr. Reed had to adapt as he beat
could; and the forms of these, therefore, he con-
tends are not such as he entirely approves for iron
going vessels, especially in the shape of the bows,
which are much too floe beneath nolt to render them
liable to pitch. The Lord Warden: and the Lord
Clyde, the Pallas and the Bellerophon, are entirely
from stem to stern of Mr. Reed's design. The two
former are improvements on vessels of the Royal
Oak class ; the two latter are quite new, both in
principle of construction and in the purpose they
are intended to fulfil, and it is of them especially
that we wish to speak as the finest samples of our
new ironclads. The Bellerophon is in point of
strength intended to be a monster among these
monsters, to be in fact as terrible an assail ant to
ironclads as an ironclad would be to wooden ships
The usual practice of the Admiralty has been to
build their iron frigates first, and then test their
strength in targets afterwards, but the converse of
this rule was adopted with the Bellerophon. Her
target was tried about three months since at Shoe-
buryness, a long account of the experiment—an ex-
periment which proved, as far as the heaviest rounds
of shot and shell could prove it, that a ship built on
such a plan would be absolutely invulnerable to any
artillery known to exist. Her success on this im.
portant point being thus guaranteed, the work of
building her was at once begun at Chatham, and
probably in 12 months time she will join her weaker
iron sisters now afloat. The object with which this
vessel is designed is in case of another groat naval
war to avoid a repetition of the long dreary work
of blockading an enemy's fleet by wearisome and
dangerous cruising off the mouth of harbour. The
Bellerophon is, in short, to be, to a fleet of ironclads
what a fox terrior is to a pack of hounds—a vessel
of such strength and speed and tremendous weight of
guns as in case of an enemy's iro a fleet running into
port she can follow them with in npnnity, and at long
range fight them at their mod rings, till she either
drive them ashore or drive then i out tosea. Specially
built for the discharge of such peculiarly arduous
duties, it is almost needless to say how carefully
every point in her equipme, at has been considered;
and as Mr. Penn undertal :es that her speed shall
equal her strength, there seems to be very little
doubt but that, with her in ape netrable sides and her
armament of ten 300-pounders, and two 600-
; pounders, she will be the mot it formidable seagoing

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I
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vessel is to be 300. t.., and her breadth
tonnage will be 4,246 tons, her disnlacemenel,osgl
tons; and though carrying the heaviest armour
armament ever sent afloat, her eranght will bo
21ft. forward and 26ft. aft, less than the drauht cf
ordinary two-deckers. The height of her lowest
portsill from the water will be 91ft., the distance
between the guns loft., and the height between
decks 7ft. Her midship section is smaller than
that of the Warrior, and to that extent therefore-, she •
will be easier to steam and sail ; she is to have four
masts—only the first square rigged, the three
others carrying immense fore and aft
a rig from which the French have got such ut3rnie-
able results with their iron frigates under canvas.
In the engines of the Bellerophon it is hoped to
effect a great improvement as regards the consump-
tion of coal. The Black Prince, which is nowpro-
bably the fastest ocean steamer afloat, burns at the
rate of 411 b. of coal per indicated horse power per
hour, and on her trial trip, with her screw going
54 revolutions, she did 151 knots an hour, and can
be depended on at sea to average as high as 13 Ici
the Bellerophon, however, it is hoped by working.
with super-heated steam surface, condensation find
expansion to reduce the consumption of coal to 2111).
per indicated horsepower per hour. If this great
be effected, she will carry 16 days' fuel instead of
nine, and if, as is expected, Mr. Penn can get 65
or more revolutions out of her engines, she can be
depended on at sea to average 15 knots, or nearly
18 miles, an hour.

fi PATE ft

The ribs and framing of the Bellerophon will be
much the same as those of other iron frigates, with
the exception that the stringer plates and diagonal
bracings will all be of steel—that is to say, of less
than half the weight, and more than four times the -
strength, of the present system of wrought•ii on
fastenings. Wherever steel can be used with ad-
vantage in point of strength and ,ightness, it will
be adopted in the frame of this new frigate; and
Mr. Reed estimates that by this method, end while
making the hull infinitely stronger, he will save in
weight two or three hundred tons, which can be
infinitely better bestowed in increasing the thickness
of the armour-plating. It is the first time that steel
has ever been used in these vessels, and Mr. Reed
deserves every credit for adopting it, though it was
not difficult to foresee that it must soon have been
extensively used. We have reached many points
where we are endeavouring to exact from wrought-
iron duties which it is not within the powers of that
metal to discharge; and if we hope to get beyond
our present manufacturing standard, we must turn
our attention to producing and utilising iron in one
of the highest stages of development in which it is
known to us—in the form of tough soft steel.
The armour of the Bellerophon is to be no less
than 6in. thick, and this is to rest on 10in. of solid
teak beams. This outer protection is quite formid-
able enough, but what it protects is of its kind
quite as strong in proportion. The inner skin con-
sists of two plates, each of tin. thickness, with a
stout layer of painted canvass between to deaden
concussion. Outside this skin come angle-iron
stringers of the tough steel we have already spoken
of. These angle-iron stringers in any metal would
be of immense strength, and project from the inner
skin 92 in. and 10in. alternately. Thus they form
so many longitudinal shelves of the depth we have
mentioned, which run from stem to stern of the
ship, two under each row of plates, and in these the
teak beams are laid, the longitudinal layers of the
angle-irons keeping the beams up to their work and
preventing their lateral splintering, while they also
support the plates with their edges and prevent
their bending in unfairly on the teak.
It is almost needless to say that the Bellerophon
is not thus coated from end to end and over all with
this tremendous armour. All Mr. Reed's skill
would fail to make a frigate seaworthy with sun a
mass of metal to uphold. In the centre and for
90ft, of her broadside she is thus protected, from
sft. below the water line to the level of the upper
deck. In this space are her guns, five 300-
pounders, with one 600-pounder at each side.
For the rest of her length there is only a
belt of this massive armour, which goes to the same
depth beneath the sea to six feet above it, so that
she cannot be hit in any part where the water could
enter. The two ends above this belt are built of
tough light plates of steel, and hero the crew and
officers will live in time of peace, and here there can
be as many portholes to the cabins and ventilating
spaces as in an ordinary passenger steamer. In
Action, of coarse, all the officers and crew would be
in the battery or below the line of the armour, six
feet above the water mark, leaving enemies' shot to
pass in and out of the rest of the vessel above them
as they might happen to strike. No harm could be
done if this part was riddled through and through
in all directions, as at six feet above the sea scarcely
any water could enter even in the roughest weather
and with the holes left unplugged. As a matter of
course, all the engines and magazines are well
under cover of the plating, and the great length of
the stem and stern from the centre battery being
thus lightened to the utmost of superincumbent
weight will render the whole ship, it is calculated,
as seaworthy in the heaviest weather as a Canard
mail packet. Tue cost of this most formidable of
all our future iron clads is estimated at £90,000
less than that of the Warrior.

The Pallas is another special vessel by Mr. Recd.
who has designed it to meet a want which the
Federal Government must just tow feel most keenly,
to check the depredations of such an enemy as the
Alabama. If the navy reports of the Federal Go-
vernment are to be depended on, their cruisers have
sighted the Alabama no less than 14 times, buc not
one has been able to overtake her; and if nautical
judgments are correct the Vanderbilt has now, after
being so long out of port, even less chance than the
rest. The Pallas is designed for great speed, both in
sailing and steaming, to carry only five guns, 011100
pounders, of the longest range—a bow chaser for-
ward and two at each side. Her length is to be
225 ft., her breadth 50ft., and her tonnage 2,372,
with a draughtof water of 18ft. forward and as much
as 24ft. aft, in order to enable her to turn quickly.
She is to be of wood, but to be entirely coated
from end to end with 41-inch armour. She is to
have a screw of great diameter. Her engines are
to be of 600 horse power, and on the economical
principle carried out with such marked Enema by
Messrs. Humphreys and Tennent on board the
Mooltan and other of the Peninsular and Oriental
Company's vessels. Engined on this principle she
is expected and ought to be able to carry coals
enough for 16 days' hard steaming, and with her
huge fore and aft sails
(only
the em
square rigged) should have but little
eoocest being
square
steam at all except in
chase. Fourteen knots per
hour sea-going speed is
what is anticipated from
this frigate, and at this
and heavy
to sweep guns, she undoubtedly ought to be able
the seas of any number of war vessels less
strongly plated, less heavily-armed and manned,
and less speedy than herself. There are other ves-
sels, however, of Mr. Reed's designing equally ape.'
cial and equally noteworthy with those which wa
have described, but we have no space now to enter
into a detail of their peculiar features. On another
occasion the subject will be resumed, when we eau
show how our iron fleet stands comparison of num-
ber, size, strength, and speed with that of France,
the only nation that as yet possesses a squadron of
these formidable ships which can be said to take rank
in some important respects with those of England.

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formed with full orchestral accompaniment, and, in addi-.
tion to the musical celebrities which form the ordinary
choir, Mesdames Rudersdorff, Andrea, Mr. Weiss, and
others, will give their services. It is, therefore, certain
that full justice will be done to this exquisite composition.
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