The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-04 00:00:00

THE P.RO,POSED NEW IRON FBIG47Es

At the close of the session the Admiralty got a
snug vote of £2,500,000 for new iron frigates,
which in round numbers is just the price of five of
these costly vessels, according to the new scale of
dimensions on which they are in future to be built.
Having got the money, the authorities issued their
plans, and called upon the leading firms for tenders.
These tenders were duly sent in to Somerset-house
on Saturday, and yesterday it was notified to
Mr. Mare, of Millwall, Mr. Laird, of Birkenhead,
and to the Thames Iron Works, where the Warrior
was built, that their offers were accepted, and that
they were to commence the construction of the ves-
sels forthwith. On the principle that half a loaf
is better than no bread, we suppose we must be
satisfied with this small addition to our iron de-
fences, though we must own we should have been
infinitely better pleased if the Admiralty had taken
heart of grace and ordered the five outright, espe-
cially as they have the money, and that it will take
at least two years to complete each vessel. It is,
indeed, rumoured that five or six months hence
orders will be given for the remaining two frigates,
but this is hardly a satisfactory explanation, if they
are meant to be built at all, for simply deferring
their construction for so long a period. The standard
of excellence was thought to have been attained
when the fine lines, ample dimensions, and immense
defensive armour of the Warrior and Black Prince
were finally decided upon. Very little more than
two years have elapsed since these matters were all
fixed, yet even in that short time the science of
building invulnerable vessels has rapidly developed
itself, for in several most important particulars the
new ships will differ very much from the 'Warrior
class, on which it is hoped and expected they will
be an immense improvement. The Defence and
Resistance, ugly and clumsy as they undoubtedly
are, are nevertheless as great an improvement upon
the floating batteries as the Warrior and Black
Prince in turn improved upon them. If the three
intended ships only again improve as much on the
Warrior, it will show that we are advancing with
very rapid strides towards perfection in the manu-
facture of these colossal engines of modern warfare.
In three most important points the proposed ves-
sels will be great improvements. In the first place,
each will be built to carry 60 guns ; secondly, they
will not only be as fast and handsome as the War-
rior, but they also are to be specially built to be
used as steam rams, having their bows beneath
the water projecting far in advance of the ap-
parent bows above ; and, lastly, by the ad-
dition of some 700 tons to their size each will be
able to carry a complete coating of armour from
end to end, so that every part of the ship will be as
invulnerable as masses of iron and beams of teak
can make it.
The length of the new ships is to be 400 feet on
the low-water line ; breadth extreme, 59ft. 4in. ;
depth, 21ft. below the gun deck; and tonnage,
6,815. The length of the Warrior class is 380 feet,
breadth 58 feet, and tonnage, 6,710. The breadth of
deck, however, in the proposed frigates will not be
greater than the Warrior, as the Admiialty have
most wisely decided on giving the sides of the new
vessels a greater incline towards the deck. Thus
the slope of the Warrior's sides inwards from the
water's edge, or the " tumble home," as it is termed,
is at an incline of about one foot in 13, whereas in
the ships to be built it will be at an incline of one
in 81 feet, which of course not only increases the
chances of the shot glancing off, but has the more
important advantage of getting the weight more to
the centre, and diminishing the tendency to roll.
In the same way the floors of all the ships are to be
made fuller and flatter, which will give them in-
creased stability in a seaway, while from the ex-
treme fineness of the lines fore and aft even the
great speed of the Warrior will, it is said, be ex-
ceeded by at least half a knot an hour. The engines
of all are to be 1,250 horse power, and are to be
made by Penn and Sons, and the increase of ton-
nage will allow them to carry coals for from
11 to 12 days full steaming, instead of nine
days, which is all the bunkers of either the
Warrior or Black Prince can stow. The
plates of the new vessels are to be larger
and thicker than the Warrior's. The broadside
of the latter is coated with V, inches of iron,
22 inches of teak, with half an inch of iron
inside that again. The new ships are to have 5
inches of iron, 11 inches of teak, and half an inch
of iron (the skin of the ship) inside all. The Ad-
miralty, however, reserve to themselves the right
of altering this part of the plan, and substituting
plates of 61 inches thick and doing away with the

teak altogether. But no decision will be arrived at
on this point until some important experiments,
which are about to be made at Shoeburyness, have
been concluded, and proved that the change will be
for the better. As it is at present arranged, even
with the 52-inch plates, it will require nearly 2,000
tons of armour to cover the new ships, while the
entire weight of the plates on the Warrior is only
950. It is this increased number, size, and thick-
ness of the wrought-iron plates which adds so much
to the cost of the new ships. Up to the present the
cost of the Warrior in hull, engines, and rigging
has amounted to no less a sum than £360,000. With
all her stores, fittings, and guns on board, when
ready for sea she will have cost from first to last
rather over £400,000. The new vessels, for their hull,

engines, and rigging alone, will require an outlay o

no less than £430,000, so that at the lowest estimate
each vessel is certain to swallow up upwards of half a
million sterling before it is fairly at sea. There are
large items certainly, but when the question is
fairly viewed even the sternest of economists will

be inclined to admit that the country will have
got value for its money, for the three ships
will be, beyond all comparison, the finest of their
kind in the world. The shape of the bows in order
to fit them for the discharge of their tremendously
destructive duties as steam-rams is to be very pecu-

liar. Viewed in outline, the profile of the stem
will present the curved line that a swan makes
when swimming. The breast or beak is thus be-
low the water-line, and projects some 20ft. at least

in advance of what seems to be the bows above

Thus, the long overhanging weight which the
false cutwater of the Warrior necessitates is en-
tirely done away with, and the bows are water-

borne for some 20ft. at least before the weight
comes upon them. A space of 30ft. long by
9ft. deep of these ostensible bows is without ar-

mour plates, and only defended from the spar deck
line upWards with teak bulwarks, which can be

lowered down like the bulwarks of ordinary
gunboats. Inside this slight defence, however,

comes a semicircular shield of armour plates
7ft. high, and spreading completely across the
vessel from side to side. In this there will be port-

holes for two immense Armstrong guns. On the

main deck:below will be a similar shield, reaching
up to the iron spar deck, but no guns will be on this,
as it is simply intended to protect the crew from a

raking fire. By these means no top-heavy weight is

nenrred at the bows, as the semi-circular shields

are mora than 40ft. within the water-borne line of

,he vessel forward. The bowsprit will be of iron,

and we believe it is intended to Make it with a power-
ful hinge, where it springs from the deck, so that
before going into action it can be turned backwarks
and inwards, that there may be nothing to deaden

the force with which the ships will strike when the
occasion offers to use them against a foe as steam-
rams. As far as is vet known the Admiralty still

cling to the conventional three wooden masts and

square rig, which is about as unsuitable for these
ships as the full uniform of a Lifeguards-

man would be to a swimmer.

The wooden

masts are not only easy to be shot away, but are

perfectly certain to break away the very first time

an attempt is made to use the vessels in running
others down. It is very possible that with the pre-
sent form of square rig the masts, even if made of

wrought iron, would do the same too. But iron
masts at least have this advantage, that they could
not be shot away, and even when they went over-
board would sink alongside like a deep-sea lead and
prevent all chance of the screw being fouled by the
mass of cordage they drag after them. The wooden
masts of the Warrior cannot only be easily shot
down, but would be certain, as they drifted and
floated astern, to foul the screw and cripple the
whole ship in two minutes afterwards. These iron
vessels are so special and peculiar both as regards