The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-29 00:00:00

IRON-CASED SHIPS.

The course of the discussions upon iron•cased
ships has confirmed in every material particular
the conclusions which we submitted to the public
respecting the new invention. The Gloire is neither
more nor less of a success than we conjectured, nor
will the discovery, as far as we can see at present,
impose upon us the obligation of "reconstructing our
navy," although it will give a new character to
future line-of-battle ships. An iron-sheathed fri-

gate is not absolutely invulnerable, but it would be
practically so in any ordinary conflict with a wooden
one. It will not cost quite half a million, but it will
surpass in expensiveness any model yet known. In
short, iron plates will be brought into use against
the effects of artillery, and probably on land as
well as at sea, but what particular forms the inven-
tion may take must for some time be a matter of
uncertainty. At present we have one great point
fully established, and one left in obscurity still.
We know that for all practical purposes a ship can
be effectually protected by iron plating, but we do
not yet know how far this ponderous armour may
be compatible with the sailing or steaming qualities
of the vessel. _ _ _

The first of these poixts has now been admitted
by almost all our:correspondents, and acknowledged
by every statesman who has introduced the subject
into his vacation speeches. We may leave it, in
fact, as conclusively settled and proceed at once to
the consideration of the second point, which in.
wolves far greater difficulties. Since the publica-
tion of our last remarks upon the question, it has
been reported that the Gloire herself, all perfect as
she was thought, has proved a failure as aseagoing
vessel. We cannot vouch for the accuracy of the
statement, but, even if it should be true, it would
not reflect any discredit upon the architect. The
Gloire was never intended to go to sea. The de-
scription given of her by the French themselves
represented her in express terms as designed for
home service only. " Her rig and equipment."
said the ilionileur de la Flotte, " indicate that the
vessel is not intended to go to a distance from
our ports, but that she is made for operations
in the seas where henceforth the great diffe-
rence of European policy will be settled."
In other words, she was meant for Channel
fighting, and, if such vessels were wanted in
the Mediterranean, they could, of course, be
launched from Mediterranean ports. The oire,
therefore, though far more moveable than the old
floating battery, was, as we remarked, very like a
battery still. It seems doubtful whether her speed
was not over-estimated when she was credited with
13 knots an hour, bat she could spin along far
more nimbly than the Trusty, and be managed with
far greater ease. The only question is whether she
cannot be improved upon. We must build Gloires,
beyond doubt, if we can build nothing better, but
cannot we outstrip our rivals ? The French have
certainly earned the credit of a first invention, and
have turned out a respectable iron-cased frigate
before we could show any such fabric ; but it will
only be in accordance with precedent if we improve
upon the pattern, and such, we think, seems a pro-
bable event. Indeed, if our neighbours had laid
down ten Gloires at once with the conviction that
the model could never be mended, they have acted
on British rather than French principles of naval
administration, and it will be our turn to take ad-
vantage of their experiments.
The Gloire is a straight-sided vessel like an ordi-
nary frigate, whereas in the form to be given to the
sides of these craft is involved a preliminary ques
tion of the highest importance. The armour now
known as Jones's angular plating slopes away from
the water's edge at such an angle that no shot
could:strike it perpendicularly, except from a ves-
sel of lofty build lying close alongside. By this
expedient for evading as well as resisting the im-
pact of a projectile it has been found possible todis-
pense with a certain proportion of strength, and
consequently of weight in the metal of the armour,
so that the vessel escapes so much of the encum-
brance. The masts, again, and tophamper are
materially reduced from the ordinary scale •in the
construction of the Gloire; but it seems to be
doubted whether in more improved models for the
new vessels such appendages need be employed at
all. Wherever there are masts they may be shot
overboard, and whenever they are shot overboard
the screw may be fouled, and the vessel rendered
helpless. A steam frigate on Jones's model would
be all but invisible on the water, and would not
only present no vulnerable point to a hostile shot,
but would scarcely offer any mark at all. She ought
to blow a Gloire into chips as certainly as a
Gloire would demolish an old Fisgard or Arethusa.
On the other hand, it is said that she would
herself be exposed to a singular species
of peril. Our readers have seen what Admiral
Sartorius could say for his steam-ram. We will
not enter upon that controversy at present, but we
have heard it surmised that, whatever a steam-ram
might do in ordinary cases, she could hardly fail of
running down one of these angularly-decked vessels,
but would go over her slopes as smoothly as boys
down a slide.
Another point concerns the dimensions to be
given to the new vessels, We are building four,
or, including the specimen just ordered to be laid
down at Chatham, five. Three of these are of
enormous magnitude, and the one last bespoken
will be the largest o7all. We are proceeding there-
fore on the same principles which determined our
construction of the old line-of-battle shins, and per-
haps not unreasonably. Still, there wilt always be
the question whether a small vessel, presenting
only a small mark, and requiring only a small crew,
may not be preerable to a vessel offering a larger
surface to shot and locking up some 800 men. To
be sure, when all vessels are invulnerable or invi-
sible alike this point of comparison may disappear,
but we have not reached that consummation yet.
However, what we wish to remark is, that the
Gloire is neither the one thing nor the other. if
the prize is to be won by strength and size, neither
she nor any one of her nine sisters could shorT
against the Warrior ; if it is to be decided by invi-
sibility and nimbleness, she would be no match for
little iron-plated gunboats.
We may further observe that perhaps a partial
application of the new invention may be found ser-
viceable. It seems to be admitted that, though very
strong and ponderous plates are required to resist
heavy shot from rifled guns, a shell might be re•
pelled by a much weaker plate. We are also assured
that shells are infinitely the most destructive im-
plements of modern warfare, and that if they can
but be kept out of a ship the damage done by shot
would be comparatively insignificant. Putting
these facts together, it seems natural to presume
that even if a vessel be not rendered shot-proof,
she might at least be made shell-proof, and that
this might be done without much impediment to
her seagoing ' qualities, or any great addition to
her cost. it is perfectly evident that, according to