The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-03 00:00:00

SCREW SHIPS OF WAR.

In 1844 the Arrogant, by the advice of the late
Lord Herbert, then Secretary of the Admiralty, was
laid down for a screw frigate, with auxiliary power,
as an answer to the menacing attitude of France,
the increasing proportion of her steam navy, and
the celebrated pamphlet of the Prince de Joinville.
To the auxiliary-powered Arrogant succeeded full-
powered frigates, blockships of evil renown, and
magnificent liners,mounting from 90 to 130 guns, all
propelled by the screw, and in some of the finest of
the frigates and liners driven by engines of a thou-
sand nominal horse power, capable of working up
to 4,000 horse at full pressure of steam. Next came
the " iron" age, represented by the Warrior, of
6,039 tons, and carrying but 40 guns behind her
iron walls, her screw driven by engines of 1,250
horse power. We are now entering upon a new
phase in the introduction of Capt. Coles's turret and
Mr. E. Reed's central square tower systems, the
former being applied to the Royal Sovereign and
Prince Albert and the latter to the Favourite and
Enterprise. As we progressed through these dif-
ferent stages so has the cost of our ships increased.
We still retain the screw as a means of propulsion,
and we cover the lofty masts of each ship as we send
her to see with a mass of wood and cordage suffi-
cient to foul and disable the screws of a whole fleet
if knocked overboard in action or in a breeze. We
have been engaged all thesa years in testing the
powers of the screw, and have also learnt its great
attendant fault. A turn or two of a rope's end, and
the screw becomes fixed, and the 14-knot ship, with
her magnificent engines, becomes helpless on the
water, as far as her machinery is concerned.

Since the commencement of the formation of our
screw fleets by the launch of the Arrogant the
thought ever dominant in the mind of the naval
officer has been, How could a screw ship be rigged
so as to lessen the danger of fouling the screw by
falling spars and rigging or floating wreck? The
question has in the meantime been often enough
discussed by officers of the Royal and mercan-
tile marine and by shipbuilders and scientific
men on shore. Some have contended for the
retention of the ordinary three masts for a full-
rigged ship, while others have advocated the ad-
dition of a fourth or even fifth mast for the
longest ships. Some few have even gone so far
as to argue that our iron-clads can never, under
any circumstances, if clothed with armour all
round, like the Minotaur will be, be made safe
seagoing ships; and, as they will possess engine
power which they can use economically by a low
pressure of steam, they ought to depend upon
steam alone for their motive power. So far all
the disputants have agreed that the present form
and description of masts, yards, and sails must be
made use of with three or four masts, or the ship
must depend upon her steam power alone. There
are, however, two existing modifications of rig and
disposition of spars introduced by the Admiralty in
the Defence and Resistance. No one, however, could
wish to see such specimens multiplied. With the
usefulness of their Cunningham self-reefing topsail
marred by attaching it to a fixed Howe's (Ameri-
can) topsai'yard, they look everything that is ugly
aloft in a seaman's eye, while they are perfectly in-
efficient under sail, as compared with the Warrior
or Black Prince.

The advent of the turret ships has, however, led
to plans being laid before the Admiralty for mast-
ing and rigging our sea-going iron-clad ships on an
entirely novel principle, superseding altogether
hempen rigging, cordage, and wooden masts by
iron tubing and chain, exactly as iron ships have
superseded wooden ones for all future purposes of
war. It is proposed in these plans to give the ship
tripod tubular iron masts, the central, or foremost,
of the three tubes being of sufficient length to act
es lowermast and topmast, and without tops or
crosstrees. A long wooden topgallantmast fidded
abaft the topmast head would carry topgallantsails
and royals. Topgallant and royal yards would be
of wood, but topsail and lower yards would be built
of tubular iron, like the masts ; all three masts and
spars to be of equal dimensions. The advantages
claimed for the tripod over the ordinary system of
roasting are,-1. Having no lower stays, they pre-
sent no obstacle to the fire of the guns in the
cylindrical shield or turret, in whatever direction
they may be trained. 2. The yards can be braced
up nearly fore and aft, or in a line with the keel,
enabling the ship when under steam to set sail
and steer her course when with the present rig she
would be obliged to furl her sails. The last posi-
tion was forcibly illustrated in the escape of the
English steamer Thistle from the United States
corvette Tuscarora off Madeira on the 29th of
November. 3. In action, the wooden topgallant-
masts being sent down, the ship is in her fight-
ing trim. Her topsail halliards and sheets leading
down between decks through her tubular masts,
sail is set and taken in as required by the crew
without exposing a man on deck. If all or any
portion of the masts and yards are shot away, being
of iron and having no rigging attached to them
they would sink immediately on falling overboard,
without a possibility of fouling the screw. 4. On
the mast platforms, which are laid on the braces
connecting the legs of the tripod, they furnish a set
of fortresses for riflemen to repel boarders, &c. 5.
From their great strength, they are well adapted
for withstanding the shock of a collision when using
the ship at full speed as a ram. 6. They will en-
able a ship to carry a greater spread of canvass,
with less weight aloft, than can be done with ordi-
nary masts and rigging. They afford great means
of ventilation, ate durable as the hull of the ship
itself, would not be subject to the effect of climate,
and the enormous wear and tear of ordinary masts
and -rigging would be thus avoided. 7. The masts
and yards being all equal in size and fixed at equal
distances, the yards cannot lock when braced sharp
up, and, the centre of effort of the sails being thrown
well forward of the line of resistance of the hull,
the ship will wear easily and rapidly, a quality in
which our iron ships afloat, and more especially the
Warrior and Black Prince, are said to be very defi-
cient. The adoption of the tubular tripod masts
would also, without doubt, save the enormous an-
nual expense which is now incurred in the dete-
rioration of the rigging of our ships of war kept
ready for service in the first-class steam reserves.
The following are the general dimensions of the
shield-ship proposed by Capt. Coles as a sea-going
vessel, compared with the Defence :

Shield Ship Defence.
Length
Beam
Tonnage

Draught of water

23 feet ..

26 feet.

Nominal Horse power 800 500
Height of guns out of water 13 feet .. 9 feet 0 inches.
As regards the spread of sail and weight aloft the
following comparisons are drawn :

Area of canvass
in square feet. Weight in tons.
Ship with tripod masts
Defence
A first-rate, or 120-gun ship
This gives the tripod.-masted ship a spread of
9,927 square feet more canvass than the Defence, at
an increase of 28 tons more weight. In comparison
with the first-rate, by which the Warrior and Black
Prince may be judged, the tripod ship spreads 2,751
square feet more canvass, with a less weight of 36
tons, and as the tripod shield ship would draw less
water, and have less beam, it is claimed that she
would be much the faster ship under sail.
The word " turret," made use of iu referring to
Captain Coles's ships has been used advisedly, the
sloping shields which were to crown the towers
having been abandoned by the Admiralty, together
with breech loading ordnance for their armament.
The Royal Sovereign at Portsmouth, and the Prince
Albert, building by Messrs. Samuda, will therefore
now be fitted with turrets of a similar fashion to the
Monitor, and will carry as heavy muzzle-loading
ordnance as can be made for them. The Royal
Sovereign is not to be fitted with masts, and con-
sequently can only be looked upon as forming a
part of our home defences.

REPRESENTATION OF EAST KENT.—The com-
mittees of Sir Norton Koatchbull and Sir Edward
Dering, the candidates for the representation of the eastern
division of Kent, have completed their canvass,
and, from
the returns which have been received, there seems to b e
every probability of a severe contest. The nomination will
i take place on Barham Downs on Monday next, the sth nst.,
and the polling on the following Thursday.