The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-28 00:00:00

Guns for our Ironclads.

The ne av scheme for the reorganisation of the
armament of the ironclad ships of her Majesty's
navy, prepared by the late Board of Admiralty,
with the assistance of Captain A. C. Key, C. 8.,
commanding her Majesty's gunnery ship Excellent,
and the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth, has
thrown such a pressure of work upon one depart-
ment of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, in the pre-
paration of the necessary iron carriages and slides
for the new guns, that it has been determined to
take advantage of other available means outside the
Arsenal gates for the completion of the carriages
and slides required for such ships as are now but
waiting their armament to be at once in commis-
sion. It may appear somewhat late to arrive at
such a determination when it is remembered that the
ironclad Bellerophon has been in commission, with
her full complement of officers and men on board,
since the 22d of March last, and has not one gun-
carriage or slide out of the 14 which are to form her
complement yet on board. The explanation of this
extraordinary circumstance is very simple. The navy
of this country possesses no Ordinary Bureau of its
own. The guns and their complete equipment are
supplied to our ships of war by the military, or
" War Department," and officers of the Royal Ar:
tillery, Engineers, or infantry—nay, even in some
instances cavalry officershave been taken into grave
consultation—have decided hitherto upon what is
or what is not to be the proper armament of her
Majesty's ships. In no other country in the world
possessing claims to any position as a maritime
Power could such a monstrous anomaly have
found existence. Here, however, it does exist ; but
our knowledge of so serious an evil should afford
the means for its removal. The Admiralty Order
dated the Bth of June, 1866, for the reorgani-
sation of the armament of the iron-armoured
ships of her Majesty's navy is probably the
blow that will destroy old barriers and prejudices,
and give to the navy what its officers have so long
and so vainly asked for—its own Ordnance Bureau,
administered independently from that of the army.
The first step towards this direction has been taken
in the adoption of means available outside Wool-
wich Arsenal for the supply of carriages and slides
to two of the iron-clad ships ordered for immediate
commission. These ships are, the Minotaur, iron
frigate, wholly armour-plated, 6,621 tons, 1,350-
horse power, and the Royal Alfred, wooden frigate,
partially armour-plated, 4,068 tons, 800-horsepower.
The Minotaur is supposed to be now intended to
supersede the screw three-decker Victoria as the
flagship of Lord Clarence Paget in the Mediterra-
nean. She was intended some months back for the
flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Channel
fleet for the present year; but, we believe, Rear-
Admiral Yelverton preferred flying his flag on board
the Caledonia, armour-plat4l wooden frigate. The
Alinotaur's armament under the new organization
will be, on the main deck, four 12-ton 9-inch muzzle-
loading rifle-guns and 18 G-ton 7-inch muzzle-load-
ing rifle-guns qn iron carriages and slides ; on the
upper deck, four 6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle-
guns, as chase guns.

The Royal Alfred is, like the Minotaur, fitting
out as a flagship, under the supervision of her future
captain, Edward W. Tumour, and it is not improb-
able she may be sent as flagship to the North Ame-
rica and West India station. She is fitted with all
the necessary cabins and poop aft as a flagship, and
has an admirably arranged ship's company's " sick-
bay" under a roomy topgallant-forecastle on the
French plan. Her iron-clad bows and running
bowsprit will enable her, like the Minotaur, to obey
with celerity the now well-known signal in the
Channel fleet, " Prepare to ram," when foretop-
masts are sent down, bowsprits run in, and the
ships of the fleet made ready for " a butt all
round." The armament of the Royal Alfred
will be very considerably heavier than that of
any other iron-coated converted wooden ship yet
sent afloat by any nation, comprising, as it
will, on the main deck, ten 12-ton 9-inch and
four 6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns, on iron
carriages and slides like those of the Minotaur ; on
the upper deck, four 6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading
guns, as chase guns.

The carriages and slides for the guns of both the
Minotaur and Royal Alfred, in their present state of
construction, are ordered to be forwarded from
Woolwich to Portsmouth dockyard steam factory,
where they will be completed under the supervision
of Capt. A. C. Key and Mr. A. Murray, the engi-
neer and chief of the establishment. The slides and
carriages for the guns of the Bellerophon, it is said,
will be completed at Woolwich.
The entire arrangement for the armament of the
armoured ships of her Majesty's navy, now in corn-
mission, built or building, is, by the order referred
to as issued by the late Board of Admiralty, as fol-
lows :

IN COMMISSION.
1. Prince Albert, turret ship, four 12-ton 9-inch muzzle-
loading rifle guns.
2. Royal Sovereign, turret puzzle-
oad-
loading rifle guns. slip, five 12-ton
3. Wyvern, turret ship, four 12-ton
ing rifle guns. deck four 12-ton 9-inch, and 18
4. Achilles—Main
rifle guns; upper deck, four
6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading
6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle revolving guns.
n deck, four 9-ton 8-inch and 22
5. Black Prince—Mai
6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns; upper deck, six
6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns, four as chase and
two as side guns.
6. Hector—Main deck, two 9-ton 8-inch and 12 6-ton
7 inch muzzle-loading rifle guns; upper deck, four 6-ton
7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns, as chase guns.
7. Defence—Main deck, two 9-ton 8-inch and ten 6-ton
7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns ; upper deck, four 6-ton
7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns, as chase guns.
8. Resistance—Main deck, two 9-ton 8-inch, and ten 6-
ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns; upper deck, four 6-
ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns, as chase guns.
9. Caledonia.—Main deck, four 9-ton 8-inch and 16 6-
ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns ; upper deck, four 6-
ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns, as chase guns.
10.—Prince Consort.—Main deck, four 9-ton 8-inch and
16 6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns ; upper deck,
four 6-ton 7-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns, as chase guns.
11. Bellerophon—Alain deck, ten 12-ton 9-inch and four
G-tca 7-inch muzzle-loading ride guns ; main deck, two.