The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-24 00:00:00

WOODEN OR IRON SHIPS.

Mr. John Laird, of the Birkenhead Ironworks,
says—For some time past so much attention has
been directed to the large amounts expended in
building.and maintaining the ships of the navy,
that it may not be considered uninteresting to bring
forward some of the advantages of substituting
iron for wood in the construction of ships for war
purposes.

-1: Ships built of iron are stronger, more durable,
and less costly to keep in repair, than those built of
wood.

2. Iron in any quantity and of the exact scantling
required can be procured on short notice from the
manufacturers in this country.
This will save the large outlay in timber and
other materials which must now be kept in stock
for seasoning, involving constant expenses, and
occupying much valuable space in our dockyards.
3. On an emergency iron vessels may be built at
the dockyards or by contract more rapidly than
wood vessels, and without the risk of decay which
is always incurred by using unseasoned timber.
Iron lower masts and yards and wire standing
rigging should also be substituted for wood masts
and hemp rigging, as the former have been proved
by many years' exporienoe to be more durable and
efficient, and at the same time less costly, than the
latter.

It is true that many parties still make the same
objections that were urged 20 or 30 years ago, and
say that iron ships are untried. They certainly
are comparatively untried for war purposes, but it
is well known that iron vessels built more than 20
years ago, after doing very hard service, are still in
good
order, and that the majority of private ship-
owners are giving up the building of wood ships
and adopting iron.
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company
abandoned the building of wood vessels many years
ago, and the Royal Mail Company would have been
much better off had they done so too, as they have
lately had to condemn some of their wood vessels
only a few years old, and have iron hulls con-
structed to receive the engines.
This subject becomes of more importance every
day. The experiments made with the new form of
guns and projectiles have proved that neither iron
nor wood vessels, as usually constructed, can with-
stand a broadside, and that to make them really
efficient for war purposes they must be cased with
thick armour plates, the weight of which is so great
that it is practically impossible to apply them to a
twhoiTsohdae-sbuilt ship and at the same time insure the
necessary_ strength, speed, and seagoing qualities.
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vessel
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an a
managing iron and wood vessels I feel convinced
that
will
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away which might be
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other country can comp
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comparative e
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tion of iron vessels,
possessedabolev,enrotalolnly.to
maintain, but to incre
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ass
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nations in naval warfare.