Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1860-11-12
From he london Tines. Oct. 2e.


From, The London Times, Oct. 26.
The course of the discussions upon ron-cased ships
has confirmed in every material particular the conclu
siOns which submitted to the public respecting the
new inventions. The GOire is neither more nor less OF
success than oOpjectured will the discovery,
far as present, impose upon Is the OBJ
lgatiOn of "reeonstructing our navy" although it will
give character TO future line-oibatle ships An
irosheathed irgae is not absolutely invunerabe but
would be practically 30 in ordinary conflict with wood
Gu one. IL will not cost quite half Million but it will
surpass in expensiveness any model yet known. In
short iron plates viii be brought into against the
effects of artillery and probably land well at sea-
but what particular forms the invention mag take must
for some time be matter of uncertainty At presen.
have great point fully established and left in
obscury still We know that for all practical purposes
ship be tnectualy projected by iron plating bu,
do not vet know how far this ponderous armour may
be compatible with ths sailing or scamiDg qualities of
| the vessel.
The first of these points has now been admitted by al
most all correspondents and acknowledged by every
statesman who has introduced the subject into his
;iOu speccEes We may leave IT, in fact coucnsivCly
settled aud proceed at TO the consideration of the
second point which involves far greater dificulhes-
Since tie publication c our last remarks upon the qGc-
ton il has been reported that the GlOrc herself aper
feet she thought has proved failure scago-
ing vessel We vOuch for the accuracy Of the
statement but even it should be true, would 10.
feet any discrcdt upon the architect The Glore IVES
never intended 20 go 10 The description given of
her 10y the French theuscves h,rn express
terms designcd for home service only. "Icr rig and
equipment" said the WOtitear Ge Ia Fofc, indicate
that the vessel il not intended to 60 TO distance from
Our pors but that she il made tor operations in the
seas whore henceforih the great differences of European
policy will be settled" In other words, she was meant
or Channel lighting aud, If such vessels wanted
tbe Mediterranean, they could Of course be launched
| ir0m Mediterranean ports. The Glorc, therefore,
though far movable than the old Aoa:-
| ing battery was, rs we remarked very Ike Il
| battery still. l. doubtful whether her speed
not OTereslimated when she credited with
IL knots an hour, but at any rate she could spu along
lar nimbly than the Trusty, and be managed with
FAR greater The only question H. whether she can
| be improved upon. We must build Gloires beyond
doubt If build nothing better, bu, cannot we
Outsirip ryasy The French have certainly earned
the credit Of first invention, aud have turned out a re-
spectacle iron-9ased fgae before we could show any
such fabric; bu; will Only be in accordance with prece
Dent If Ue improve upon the paltcr and such We think
seems probable event Indeed If o.. -,'shhoTs nI',
the model could never be mended, they have acted
British rather than Fsench principles Of naval admins
aon and will be our turn to take advantage Of their
exp'riments
The Goire Is q sraightsded vessel like an ordinary
frgae whereas in tho form be gwen the sides Of
these craft is involved preliminary question OF the high
| est Importance. The armour known Jouess
guar pl4lng slopes away from the waters edge at such
an angle that shot could strike il peTpendculary,
cept from vessel of lofty build lying close slougsde-
By this expcdent for eyading well resisting the i'm
pact Of proecle it has been found possible dispense
with a certain proportion OF strength and consequently
of weight in the metal Of the armour that the vessel
escapes so much Of the encumbance. the msst again.
and tophamper are materially reduced from the Ordinary
scse in the construction Of the Glore but it seems to
be doubted whether in approved models for the
vessels such append,ges need be employed at all Wher
ever there they may be shot overheard and
wherever they shot overheard the may be foul
| ed aud the vessel rendered helpless. steam figate
on Joness model would be all but invisible the water
ard would not only present 10 vulnerable point TO hos
tile shot, but would scarcely offer any mark at ALL She
ought to blow Glore into chips Is certainly Goire
would demosh old Fisgard Arelhusa. On the 9TH
er hand IL Is said thai she would hersei be exposed
angular species OF peril Our readers have seen what
Admiral Slrtorus could say for his steamram We will
not enter upon that controversy at present but have
heard surmsed that whatever steam-Tam might do
in ordinary cases she could hardly fail Of running down
one Of these angully vessels but would go over
her slopes smoothly as boys down 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 fye
Three Of these Of enormous magnitude and the
last bespoken will be the largest of all We proceed
ing therefore, the principles which determined
our construction of the cid lne-obate ships and per-
hap5 not unreasonaby. Stil there will always be tie
question whether small vessel presenting only a small
mark and requiring only small crew. msy not be pre!e
rable to vessel Offering larger surface TO shot aud lock-
|
nyunerable invisible alike this point Of comparison
may disappear but have not reached that eonsumna-
ton yet However what wish TO remark IT, that the
GIore is neither the thing nor the other If the
prize is to be won by strength and size, neither she
any of her nine sisters could show against TIE Warrior
if it to be decided by nvsbiity and nimblenes she
would be match for little iron-platc gunboats
We may further observe that perhaps partial appli,
cation Of the invention may be found scrvceable-
IL seems be admitted that though very strong and
afla o1o
rifed guns shell might be rCpelled by much weaker
plate. We are also assured that shells are infinitely the
most destructive implements of modern warfare and
that If they but be kept out Of ship the damage
done by shot would be comparatively nsignAeanL-
Putting these facts together 1t seems natural TO presume
| that even If vessel be no. rendered shOprooE she
might at least be made shelproo and that this might
be done without much mpedment TO her sea-going quail
ites or any great addition to her cost Il perfectly
evident that according TO the present stale of the case
ron-cased shps will be calculated for home service or
"; indeed our largest neofbatle ships as /. is have
seldom been sent TO any great distance from home No
threedecker yet went round the Cape and iron
sided Colossus is likely to take that voyage 1t follows
therefore that foreign and colonial service must still
be performed by odfaShoned vessels but it does not
follow that these vessels may be rendered less yune
rablc than they by Judcous application of iron
plating. PerhapS the lghtes craft carry a single
heavy gun the most nimele cruiser may have her cu
( rass to suit
We can only repeat in conclusion that what we sug-
ges.ed in the way has been entirely borne
out by the revelations OF the controversy. The new
ships likely to be more expensive than original
supposed and the richest nation will therefore have
an advantage In constructing them. On this point we
add authentic information. We believe the
tua Of the largest class Of ironcased ships will be
about $50 OOO or according the old method of reck
oning, 10000. gun. This is prodigious charge-in
fact il Is double that Of finest thrce.deckers Iron
however will not decay like wood and what is Of far
greater importance-S6 guns can be worked with less
than half the required for l30 An element again.
of the greatest consequence in the question is that of
speed and il is beyond any doubt that We manufac
ture the best engines and that possess the most val
| liable fuel. To be bref, needs conclude that
old naval superiority has been kept absolutely within
grasp by discovery which gives every point in
our favor. The invention offers the sovereignty Of
the seas TO the nation which work best in iron pro-
vide the best engineers and supply tho largest funds for
keeping batteries aaoat Ii any nation eau beat in
race go regulated We shall richly deserve our defeat
IR0N-PLATED SHIPS.
To the Editor ofhe London Times:
Sr-Every Eogsbman who has read your columns
containing the interesting communications on ron-pated
ships must have been struck with their vast Importance
Al.