The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-27 00:00:00

IRON-CASED SHIPS.

It is extremely undesirable that the public mind
should be kept any longer in suspense on the sub-
ject of iron-cased ships. That question involves
the preservation of our mat itiam power, and with
it the safety of the nation. The French have solved
it one way ; we, if not utterly apathetic in the
matter, appear to have solved it in another. gue
administration must be right, and one wrong.. t
the mistake is on our side, we may lose the com-
mand of the seas for such a time as would place our
trade at the mercy of an enemy. The question, is
fact, in its broadest form, is nothing less than this
—whether a certain ship of war recently con-
structed by the French is not of such a build that
nn ship in the British navy can stand against it?
Ilre are certainly not quite prepared, even vet, to
ta.nswer that question Nvith au unqualified affirma-
ve,
inventiAon is really
butwith the tphle.eifneffsrimenaatlioonpwineiehnasvepuretceeinvedr,ceeomucipicida
dniiralty
our columns, induces us to believe that the Pew
expOcurrimenta for many
anmost important matter
authorities have been conducting
of iron for repoliy months past upon the capa-
cityto have concluded, and gjircoabnanbct,Lwiloittil `rle'haesywal,pivitr
no plates of this metal,
however Llll
resist the effects of artillery for any length of time.bolts
At a '
fa; tout:
lc. dr,ificaeda.
At a lung range the elongated
cannon will certainly now and then, though not
always, pierce this species of armour and enter the
vessel. At a shorter range the solid shot f a
95-cwt. gun may be relied upon for shattering,,
after a few rounds, the defences of the ship ; so
that iron-cased frigates cannot be pronoune d
eim-
pregnable. Acting apparently on this conclusion,
which, thus stated, is probably sound, our naval
authorities have continued to build wooden ships
as before, while the French have exultingly pro
claimed that the day of such fabrics has passes
away, and that the command of the seas will follow
a new invention of which they at present possess
the only example. Can that assumption be recon-
ciled with the results of our own experiments ? We
think it can, and that here lies the whole secret of
the case.

The French have not constructed an absolutely
invulnerable ship, but they have built a frigate
which is less vulnerable, and therefore propor-
tionately more powerful than any. vessel in the
British Navy. We do not believe that the sides of
the Gloire would repel cannon shot much more ef-
fectually than the sides of our own target-ships.
As these were pierced, so would those be; but this
admission leaves a great deal still to be said for the
French frigate. Our experimental targets were
battered by the very heaviest guns—such as few
ships carry excepting here and there on a pivot.
These guns were fired at the very shortest ranges
—such as could not necessarily be commanded in a
naval action. Their effects, again, were not pro-
duced immediately, nor until after the target had
resisted for a certain length of time. Apply these
facts to the case before us, and what do they prove ?
They prove that an iron-cased frigate might en gage
au enemy, however powerful, with impunity to
herself, for perhaps some 10 or 15 minutes, whereas
that time might be sufficient with modern artillery
for the decision of a battle. They prove that,
except when opposed by such guns as are not
always carried at sea, and are rarely found on
shore, such a vessel would be practically invul-
nerable, and that the slightest advantage of speed
would enable her, by choosing her range, to hold
any antagonist at her mercy. The Gloire, there-
fore, though her sides may not be absolutely
impenetrable, and though she might possibly
be overpowered in open fight by a first class
frigate, may be still conceived to possess advan-
tages of no trifling kind. To nine ships out
of ten, in nineteen cases out of twenty, she might
be perfectly unassailable; she might lie alongside
a shore battery and sweep the artillerymen from
their guns ; in the worst of cases she would have
the first five minutes of the battle to herself; and,
above all, though not proof against the heaviest
shot, she would be proof
.against shell. None of
those ten ible projectiles could find their way
through her plated sides, and the value of this
protection will have been seen from the communi-
cation of " A Captain, R.N.," which we published
on Monday.
This, it seems to us, is the true solution of the
enigma before us. Our authorities appear to have
proceeded on the assumption that marine armour
was good for nothing unless it could be proved ab-
solutely perfect, and as they found no iron plates
through which, in the long run, and under condi-
tions of their own arrangement, they could not suc-
ceed in driving a hole, they jumped to the conclu-
sion that the invention was a fallacy, and that the
French were building upon a false security. They
forgot that there might be a good deal in the ns w
theory, even if there were not quite so much as our
neighbours imagined, and that an iron-cased
frigate, without being actually invulnerable, might
nevertheless possess a formidable superiority over
a vessel built of wood. Even imperfect armour
may be better than no armour at all. If a
species of tunic could be invented which would
protect a soldier from a rifle 'bullet unless he were
struck once or twice in the same place, and from
a very short distance, we should certainly think the
discovery important, and should hasten to provide
our troops with the new garment of its not being
altogether ball-proof.
We must not, however, exclude from our survey
certain points which still remained to be considered.
Speed must be a vital element in the question, for
superiority in speed means choice of range, and
choice of range means command of the field. Give
an iron-cased ship this choice, and it is agreed on
all sides that she is mistress of the sea. Give it to
her antagonist, and she may find her armour of no
avail. Are we to conclude that a vessel cumbered
with all these tons of iron can be as swift, of course
ceeteris paribus, as one carrying no such weight ?
Supposing that of two ships one took out her ton-
nage in armour and the other in armament—that
one had such heavy casing that she could carry no
large guns, and the other such heavy guns that she
could carry no casing—which would have the ad-
vantage? Again, are we rightly informed that an
ironclad vessel, though more secure than a wooden
one at the beginning of an engagement,
some
new
v conclusion,
principlee .de
ras"
so as the engagement advances ? once
when the metal shell of these new
shipsand with
been cracked it is all over with
them
every as we
every soul on board, whereas heart of
amount of
very well know, will take a prodigious
being much the
smashing and riddling without
worse for it. We are told that
- the matter is really
taken into consideration; but
time is fast slip• ping by. We must
urgent, and
authorities have now arrived
needs think that our adu
These, and perhaps other points too, must all be
not hove to
yet we know
been laid down
understand it. As
nobeshi s have
()Ind the four which were
L frigates, exactly as in
out to contract sone time ago, and as all the
ye.ars, we must necessarily presume that, if
of our dockyards are still expended on
wooden "thre
any decision has been formed, it is adverse to the
ifmorpmosesrible to reconcile with
new invention. That decision, however, we find it
resourcespaontu tt
e
the evidence of facts
of professional men. Still, as
ylopeineionvidsesice of an opposite character yet
which our Admiralty has
of this kind. ntal innedrree mhvteaeal opinions
we might fael no great uneasiness were
it not for the bad name hi
earned in matters • nd. When we recollect
that sailing ships
\hvaedr ere built
become i na
palpableo u our do dockyards
necessityy ards for
years years after steam,
we cannot be sure that wooden ships will not be built
long after the scale has preponderated in favour of
iron. This is the point at which we have got into
such scrapes. We always find ourselves not merely
short of the article wanted, but heavily stocked with
that which has become obsolete. We go on the old
paths too long, and are then driven to tremendous
efforts before we can recover ourselves. If we had
commenced even in January lust to build iron-cased
frigates, not as an extraordinary investment of our
money, but simply with the available funds of the
current year, we should already have been abreast
of our neighbours ; but if we allow them again to
get two or three years' start of us, we shall find
our yards once more encumbered with useless
fabrics, and all our work requiring to be done anew
in the alarm and extravagance of a panie.—Times.

" It has been erroneously stated," says a Turin
letter, " that M. Maximi d'Azeglio has resignedetch°_,ltet
vernorship of Milan, because ho disapproved of the doneoi' sic,
of the Cavour Mini:try. The truth is that lie_ I:alifbeen
on account of indisposition, under whichterbta.n
i lid that,
labouring for some time ; but the hopo is ante
Government
when his health shall be re-established, D
Which he has
the country. He is at present in little
Lake Maggiore."
will again employ him, as be has renderevdagia,rea.
built for himself near Canero, on
HIGHLAND CHILD.
QUEEN VICTORIA AND TUE
which is c .
ommunicated by a
—The following simple story, i t tog t .t
rary, 11 us ra . a rat
an
ry wu,'ro- mise Scotch COntel:uwhich explains much of
correspondent to a n and
in the character of our Quee, , t services to
tertained for her by all classes
when the Court was at Bal-
e Year • A Jenny
of her subjects. One yea the prom's- to . ----, the
moral her Majesty made neighbour, and who was
was thought, little more of, at least
with her Majesty, " I'll bring a pretty
especial favourite
daughter
haeugfehetleirn go
of
fondhui regard en
methbaatayenarelwt eynetarto."P Paris et
o°
we co
voui:itt
toy
went,
on one side.
nr of the French, amid all the pomp andstate of
the EmPer- and there was enough in
and imperially, the events
royalty ato drive generally many others besides the pea-
of the year
hil from the thougt came, he Sovereign of Great Eri-
sant c
taln. Well, next season and with it the Court re-
turned to Balmoral, The Queen, in making her rounds,
and thliiper
Majesty
soon called on her little protege, and with a "Now, I
hav'n't forgot you," exhibited the promised present. While
Queen Victoria was in the French capital, amid all the
dih and distraction of French state pageantry, she found
time to think of her favourite, the little Highland girl on
the banks of the Dee, and then and there selected and
bought an article to please and gratify tb.e uns9TplAistioted
little bodie,

K