The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-31 00:00:00

to end, and in consideration of the extra inch of
iron, her teak backing is to be reduced to 9in. in-
stead of 18. Yet, even with this reduction, she will
require 400 tons 6f teak and 1,860 tons of solid iron
armour—a tremendous mass of dead weight, when
we remember that this is exclusive of rigging,
stores, coals, guns, or engines. It is not too much to
say that the propriety of reducing the teak and in-
creasing the iron has yet to be tested. The first
celebrated Warrior target, as made by the Thames
Compary, withstood at Shoeburyncss everything
that either round shot cr Armstrongs, 68's or 200-
pounders, could do against it, and this opinion was
strong at the tim9 that mi.:ch of this enormous
power of resistance was due to the thickness of the
teak backing, which so deadened the concassion as
to save the rivet heads and plate bolts at the back.
It cannot be urged that the thickness of the iron has
been increased because Whitworth sent his shot and
shell through the 41in. plates, as he has since
through plates of 51in., and is, it is said, quite pre-
pared to do through 61 or even 7 inches of solid
metal. At any rate, whether right or wrong, it has
been decided that the now frigates are to have the
increased thickness of iron and the diminished thick-
ness of teak, and, judging from the care with
which every step in the construction of these vessels
has been considered, it is only fair to suppose that
this change, too, is an improvement till the con-
trary has been clearly proved.
For a length of about 30 feet back from the bows
no armour is used, but in its stead a massive 51 inch
semicircular-ime shield eshßods a0r05a411144134,91-

the vessel, and is continued down to the level of the
main deck. It is at portholes in this shield' both on
the `main and upper decks that two of the heaviest
guns used in the service -are to be placed, the men
working which will be completely protected. There
,is to be a rifle tower or, the upper deck, as in the
.Warrior, in case of any,attemptat boarding. The
alteration in the rig of" the new ships, which the
Admiralty would have acted wisely in conceding to
the other iron frigates, is a great improvement, and
one expected long ago from its obvious utility.
It was nothing short, of ridiculous that because
a line-of-battle ship, 200 ft. long, only required
three masts, therefore a vessel of 400 should have
no more. The Admiralty, WoWever, clung fondly
and obstinately' 'to the tra'aitional three spars,
and it was not till the Warrior :went to sea and the
difficulties of managing a .ship with each of her
masts 150 feet apart beeam.e.,so
,serious they could
be no longer overlooked, that fputine gave way and
a new description of rig was ajloNiyed for quite a new
description of vessel. There are, as we said, to be five
masts in the.- Minotaur and her sisters, three square
rigged, and two, the first and last, carrying fore
and aft canvass only.• Each .-.of these spars, both
masts and- yards, is to be made jof wrought iron like
the Great•gastern'4, which, weight for weight, is
stronger then wood, is less liable to be shot away,
and which, when shot away,' tears itself free and
goes down alongside like a deep sea lead, instead of
floating astern and fouling the screw with the
wreck of shrouds and cordage.

As regards the actual method of construction of
the hull, no alteration is attempted upon the plan
on which the Warrioics built, than which no frame
of iron could well be stronger land yet float. The
massive longitudinal box girders 'and cross beams
intersect in every direction, and, the enormous side
ribs, nearly two feet deep, lie asiciose as they can
well be rivettecl together, only 11 inches interval
being left between each. The forgings required for
some parts of this frigate are the most stupendous
ever attempted. The stern post is a single forging
which it has taken nearly a year to make. When
completely turned down and fitted it will weigh no
less than 70 tons, and now in the rough it weighs
nearly 150. The forging for the stem or beak also
will be almost as large.. An immense staff of men
are employed upon the hull to get her ready for
launching by the end of June next. The rapidity
with which this great staff of mechanics v 5 ork, and
the deafening clamour which they make in " closing
rivets up" is both a sight and a sound which are
worth being present at once, but which few will
care to venture a repetition of. Just now, how-
ever, almost every part of the Thames Iron-
works presents the same wonderful scene of in-
dustrial activity. No less than 30,000 tons of
iron shipping are being built in this yard, in
addition to ironwork of every kind, from gir-
ders to iron flagstaffs, and from Shoeburyness
targets to armour plates and iron masts.
Close under the bows of the Minotaur is the
Russian iron frigate of 3,500 tons. She is to carry
40 guns, and with a powerful iron beak to strike
under water any adversary she may be fortunate
enough to overtake ; but her lines are coarse and
full, her bows very heavy, and her horse power
merely auxiliary, being as low as 350. She has
the same, strength of hull, thickness of armour,
and teak backing as the Warrior. Two other iron
frigates are also being commenced here—one for the
Spanish and one for the Turkish Government.
Both these vessels will be of upwards of 5,000 tons,
and coated with 5-inch iron on 10in. of teak.