The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-09 00:00:00

THE Su N, LONDOI4, *

200 feet to 720 feet in length, and some of them 90
feet wide. In order to place ourselves on an equality
with the French navy, no less than to meet certain
emergencies, we must, with a reconstructed fleet,
found a colossal dock establishment on some favour-
able point on our southern shores, furnished with
the means of carrying on extensive repairs in time
of war. The most suitable of all positions is South-
ampton Water, and if we are wise enough to build
a set of docks there before the time of war arrives,
we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that the
largest iron-cased ships now in contemplation will
be able to run in and be docked with all their stores
on board, and everything standing ; and with
nothing less than this should we be satisfied.

Sir J. DALRYMPLE HAY said he had been
quite unexpectedly requested by Mr. Fairbairn,
as being associated with the committee to
which that gentleman had been referring, to
address a few remarks to the section, and must
therefore be excused if they were crude and
undigested, The labours of the committee had
been addressed first of all to the quality of the
material—viz., iron, by which the sides of ships
or fortresses were to be protected. The mode
of attaching that material was likewise an essential
point, as also was the process by which the side of
the fort or ship should be so constructed as to retain
in position the material used for its protection. It
had occurred to the committee that it was by ne
means the best mode of applying the iron to cover
ships of the old construction with shields or plates
of armour. The days of wooden ships were entirely
numbered, in his opinion. He would not say that
this was the opinion of the committee, because their
views were liable to modification from day to day
according to the evidence they had before them.
The committee obtained from a great number of
manufacturers of iron in this country a series of
plates constructed of that descripticn of iron which
the makers themselves considered best adapted for
the purpose in view. The plates began with a thick-
ness of a quarter of an inch, with an ascending
series of thicknesses up to eight or ten inches. The
result of experiments went to show that the steely
descriptions, or those which had been hardened ex-
tremely (and which went under various designations
as semi-steel, or homogeneous iron), up to a certain
thickness—about three-quarters of an inch—pos-
sessed great resisting powers. But the committee
ascertained, with, as he believed, positive certainty
that, after that thickness of metal had been attained
its brittle nature rendered it less advantageous, in
resisting the blow of a projectile at a high velocity,
than was wrought iron of the very best quality,
but which should be soft and at the same time tena-
cious. So far as was hitherto ascertained, it ap-
peared that all holes bored in the plates to attach
them to a ship were a source of weakness. As yet
the Iron Plate Committee had not arrived at any
positive conclusions ; they had before them a most
interesting subject of inquiry, and invited the
assistance and suggestions of all the inventors
and scientific men of the country. What
naval men were most afraid of was, not the
solid missiles breaking through the ship's side,
but the combustible] materials they might convey,
and the danger of which would shake the firmest
discipline. The committee could hardly hope to
arrive at any mode of excluding altogether the cold
shot from penetrating the iron side of a ship, but
they did think it possible so to construct and plate
a ship as that the hollow projectile impinging on its
side should be broken to pieces before penetrating,
and thus they would exclude the shells, red-hot
shot, or liquid iron, which were the most terrific
I engines of war. He thought it of great advantage

that the wooden ships which had been laid down
and prepared for the English navy should not be
entirely lost to the country, but converted into iron-
sided frigates of great size and speed, because,
though they were not of the most scientific con-
struction, they were at least better than the vessels
opposed to them. (Applause.)

Sir W. ARMSTRONG, having been invited by the
President to make a few observations, said, although
it was quite true he was engaged in the construc-
tion of a 300-pounder, and the operation had so far
been attended with perfect success, still he found it
a matter of very considerable difficulty. He would
suggest to Captain Blakely that it might be better
to begin with producing an effective gun, adapted
for a 100-pounder, before venturing on such mon-
sters as that gentleman appeared to have in view.

He did not think it a matter of much importance

to put on hoops with the accuracy of dimension
which Captain Blakely contended was requisite.
He entirely concurred with Mr. Fairnbairn as to
the great desirability of adopting a form of
structure for iron-plated ships which should
obviate the necessity of using wood. He saw
very great importance in that, because they would
first get quit of great unnecessary weight ; they
were then enabled to thicken their plates, and
they also were relieved of the liability to the wood
rotting, and having the ship to pull to pieces perio-
dically for the purpose almost of reconstructing
it. In the construction of these ships we must
chiefly keep in view their adaptation for a small
number of monster guns. Timber ships to be used
against timber ships were very properly armed with
a large number of smaller guns; but iron-plated
ships to be used against plated ships must be armed
with the most powerful guns practicable. There
was a feeling among naval men that guns beyond
a certain size would be unmanageable ; but we must
bring in the aid of mechanical powers which we
know to be available in the movement and control
of large masses, and not restrict ourselves to the use
of hand labour. (Hear, hear.) It would hardly be -
sufficient, in assailing iron-plated vessels, to punch
small holes in their sides by means of projectiles ;
but what was required was to be able to hurl huge
masses, no matter of what form, so as to produce a
great effect, and crush in the sides, if possible. This
could only be done by guns of the very largest
size. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. SCOTT RUSSELL said there were one or two
general considerations on the subject which he
thought must clear away a good deal of misunder-
standing. The first was, that they should all set
out by believing they would never get absolute im-
penetrability. If they set out with that belief, they
would get rid at once of a thousand schemes for ab-
solute impenetrability, and all the answers to them
were likewise removed out of their way. The whole
practical question was contained in this expression
of a good sailor—" Whatever you do, for God's sake
keep out the shells." (Hear, hear.) This brought
them at once to the question whether punching out
holes in the armour was a point of very great value
or not. Having been in iron-plated vessels when
they were fired at with these projectiles, he was
able to say that one could stand behind an iron plate
under those circumstances with a wonderful deal,of
comfort. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) One could
be sure of "the shells being kept out." Up to
this time, however, it had been the custom to
I load the sides of a ship with a dead weight
of useless metal coating, doing a great deal of harm
to the sailing qualities of the vessel. The committee
were going to confer the great benefit on ship-
builders of constructing a number of targets to see
what was the quantity of that iron which might be
taken into the ship itself without depriving the
coating of its inefficiency, so as, in fact, to give its
own strength to the vessel, besides serving as pro-
tection for it. As to the objection urged against
the Warrior, that the bow and stern were left ex-
posed, the practical point to remember was this—
that a ship could not carry armour along her whole
length, if below a certain size. In order to carry
that, the Government had now been obliged to go
much further in size. A 7,000-ton vessel would ful-
fil the conditions of a good warship, and yet carry
her armour from end to end ; but a 3,000-ton vessel,
if loaded in the same way, wonld possess no good
sea-going quality combined with speed.
Sir E. BELCHER, in the course of some remarks
on various points of the discussion, said Dr. Eddy's
proposals had been met by the very clear answer
that the velocity in small vessels could never equal
that of the large ones with which they had to con-
tend. The cocoanut fibre which Dr. Eddy thought
of using was very liable to smoulder, and the salts
by which he meant to render it uninflammable
would corrode the iron so rapidly as to make the
vessels useless in the course of a very few months.
He (Sir E. Belcher) disapproved for various rea-

sons, e:

struction.

Mr. JOHNSON, the Rev. Dr. ROBINSON, and other
gentlemen afterwards joined in the discussion.
SECTION E.—GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNO-

LOGY.
EXPLORATION OF AUSTRALIA.

In this section Sir R. I. MURCHISON said he had
intended to read a letter from the Duke of New-
castle (but which he had unfortunately left at home,
but which he would send to the president to be
read on Monday), stating that the Government had
been pleased to accede to the application
of the Royal Geographical Society, who had re-
quested that a sufficient sum of money should be
granted to Mr. Frank Gregory to enable that gen-
tleman to complete his expedition through North
Western Australia. It was proposed to go north-
wards, turn the great North Western corner of
Australia, and proceed as far eastward as pos-
sible towards Cambridge Gulf. The object
was to ascertain the nature of the coast line
of this part of Australia and ascertain whether•
there were not great tracts of country capable of
cultivation, and well supplied with water. He
described the results of previous expeditions in
Australia, including one by Mr. Gregory's brother
and Mr. Stewart, and said Mr. Gregory's progress
in a former expedition had been stopped by his
meeting with a great and intensely saline desert,
and he had been obliged to diverge in the direction
of Queensland. It was with a view to ascertain
some of the cotton-growing capabilities of this
neighbourhood that the expedition was about to be
undertaken, and it was considered to be one of
great importance by the Geographical Society, who
had given to Mr. Stewart for his feat in penetrat-
ing 500 miles beyond the point any previous tra-
veller had reached, and in crossing that great con-
tinent, over which it was proposed to carry a mag-
netic telegraph, connecting it, through India, with
this country, their gold medal.

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excluding timber a •: •er from the c