The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-08 00:00:00

STEAM RAMS v. IRON-CASED SHIPS.

Mr. Nasmyth, in a letter to a contemporary says:
Nothing but the most earnest conviction that the
few remarks I desire to offer may have an impor-
tant bearing on the subject of our national defences
would have led me to presume to solicit for them a
corner in your valuable columns.

Late events have, however, brought the subject
of iron-cased ships so prominently before the atten-
tion of the Government and of the public generally,
as a subject involving the most vital interests of the
nation, that I trust you will afford me the oppor-
tunity I so much desire of saying a few words on
the subject.
It appears to me that in the remarks which have
been made in Parliament and elsewhere, in refe-
rence to the successful attack by the Merrimac on
the Cumberland, sufficient attention has not been
given to the steam-ram action of the Merrimac,
which, however imperfectly constructed as a bona
flu steam ram, yet performed her duty in that
respect with such complete success as to have settled
the fate of the Cumberland by her first blow acting
as a steam ram, as from that moment the Cumber-
land began to sink into the water a hopeless wreck.
The guns of the Merrimac, no doubt, added to the
destruction of life, but that was not requisite to
secure the destruction of the vessel, the fate of
which was decided, as before said, by the first
steam-ram brow given by the Merrimac.

Ever since 1845, when I first introduced the
subject of steam-rams to the Admiralty, I have
given my earnest attention to the subject, as one
of the most simple and effective agents in naval
warfare ; and, having watched the results of the
experiments that have been made on iron plates,
by which we seek to render our ships of war in-
vulnerable to shot, experience and reflection have
satisfied me that, unless we provide ourselves with
bona fide steam-rams, great as the shot-resisting
capabilities of our iron-plated war ships may be, not
one of them could. exist above water after receiving
on its side a single blow from an iron-plated
steam ram of 2,000 tons. Such a weight of ram
moving with a velocity of eight or ten miles an
hour, would, if it deposited its momentum on the
side of the strongest iron-plated ship, transcend in
the destructive effect of one single blow all the
broadsides that could be delivered during hours of
continued firing. As the grand object of naval
warfare is the destruction by the most speedy mode
of the ships of the enemy, why should we con-
tinue to attempt to attain this object by making
small holes in the hull of the enemy when, by one
single masterly blow from a steam ram we can crush
in the side of any armour-plated ship, and let
the water rush in through a hole " as wide as a
church door,' and certain to send her below water
in a few minutes ?

No iron plates, however thick, as forming the
sides of an iron-plated war ship, could ever with-
stand the crushing-in action of an end-on blow from
a steam-ram possessed of the momentum due to
2,000 tons, moving with even S 3 moderate a velocity
as 10 miles an hour. While such a crushing blow
would be fatal wben delivered on to the side of the
enemy, the result to the steam-ram would be prac-
tically harmless.
In the construction of such a ram as I refer to
everything would be done to give her " end-way
strength," while at the same time being hampered
with no interior fittings except what was due to
the attainment of high speed. Under such fa-
vourable conditions a degree of speed might
be given to her such as to enable her to
overtake any more cumbrous vessel, against the
rudder and screw of which she could easily rush, and
so, in the first place, utterly disable the locomotive
power of the enemy and then sweep round to gain
due momentum and direction, and crush in the
plated sides of the then comparatively helpless
enemy. For such purposes it would be well to have
a covey of smaller nimble rams, to act as what I
would term " cripplers "—namely, to rush at the
rudders and screws of the enemy's ships, which
would render them an easy prey to the great rams
and other agents of destruction.

Vast as has been our expenditure on such vessels
as the Warrior and other vessels of her class, the
steam ram principle in them is so imperfectly car-
ried out, and overlaid and hampered with traditional
naval details, as to render it more than doubtful if
any of them dare to act as "steam rams," certainly
not as such against an iron-plated enemy.
I earnestly trust the Admiralty will not lose arday,
in testing the efficiency of a bona fide steam ram,
and not let us have to be taught a humiliating lesson
as to the capabilities of such tremendous agents as
they are certain to prove from some hostile
quarters.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge
ham been suffering from an attack of influenza and cold for
the last few days.

The Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury
entertained at dinner on Saturday evening the Marchioness
of Lothian, the Countess of Bective, Lord and Lady
Burghley, Lord West, Mr. and Lady Augusta Fremantle,
Mrs. Lane Fox, Mr. Whiteside, M.P., &c.

The health of the Earl of Derby continues to
improve, and hopes are hold out by his lordship's medical
advisers that in a few days the noble earl will be so far re-
covered as to leave town for the country to recruit his
health during the Parliamentary recess.
The Earl and Countess of Clarendon intend to
receive a succession of visitors at the Grove, near 'Watford,
during the holidays.

airing tile
Lady Molesworth entertained at dinner last
evening the Earl of Cork, Earl Granville, Maria Marchioness
of Ailesbury, the Earl and Countess Somers, Viscount and
Viscountess Enfield, Viscount Torrington, Viscount Strat-
ford do Radcliffe, Lord Elcho, the Right Hon. Sir Edward
Bulwer Lytton, Mr. Delano, and Mr. Hayward.
The Hon. Gerald and Lady Maria Ponsonby have
returned to town from visiting the Earl and Countess of
Clarendon, at the Grove, Watford.