, 1861-12-11
Gbt> Grihtttte..


= ~~HAAk ~ &HAA3 VI l Au44AAC1pAlRt uttN
Laid the keel Of an iron clad screw fricafc, for
The Government, to be ready for sea by the
middle Of next June. The vessel will be two
hundred and thirty feet long, sixty feet beam,
twenty-five feet hold, having three full decks.
,N.aen Waen loaded she vii draw fifteen feet Of
water, and Tlll carry sixteen eleven-fnch guns.
She VIII have two powerful engines and one
large brass wheel, and is to run at the rate Of
ten knots per hour. The plntes are fifteen
feet long, twenty-elght and a half and thirty
and half inches wide, and four inches thick
Ihe edges and ends are made straight and
smooth, and grooved like 2 flooring board.
The groove is one inch wide by half an inch
deep. The vessel is to be covered with the
plates four feet under water and three feet
above it, and they are to extend eighty-d7e feet
fore and aft Of the centre line, which will make
one hundred and seventy feet Of planking.
spar deck, {abovc which There will be light
rail The sides of the Ship With view to
cause the shots to glance, will have an angle
Of thirty degrees from three feet above the
the ship has to be large. The tonnage Of the
one under contract IS to be three thousand
five hundred.
In her construction she will be different
from the French ship L. Gloire, about which
so much has been written. The French ship
be built here will be almost fiat bottomed,
which, Notwithstanding the additional weight,
will make her Of light draught. Her machine
~ viii be much the same as that Of first
class sloop-ofwar, except that she will have
four boilers and a blower. The latter is to
make the boilers steam, even though the
smoke stack should be shot away.
CAPT. ERIcssoS's NEW BATTERY.
Under the law appropriating million and a
half Of dollars for the construction Of IRON
clad vessels, the Naval Committee have ap-
proved OF 4 plan Of & naval battery Of Capt
Ericsson, and the Secretary of the Navy has
ordered one to be constructed The only des-
cription We have seen Of il is contained in the
Scientific american, from which VIC derive the
following facts: The battery consists Of three
; principal parts, viz: q shallow-decked vessel
with perpendicular sides, dead fat bottom and
pointed ends. Under this shallow vessel q
! SECOND and deeper vessel is attached, with
and sides inclined at an angle Of ffty-one de.
grees to the vertical line. This lower vessel
does not extend the entire length Of the upper
one. It is in free communication with the lat
! ter, the bottom Of which is cut out cor1es.
ponding; e1aotly with the top line Of tile low
| The third principal part consists Of cylin-
/ drical tu1ret, placed on the deck Of the upper
| vessel. This turret contains the armament
! which it edcctually protects. 4 screw pro
| peller is applied aft Of the raking stem Of the
/ lower vessel, and aft Of the propeller an cqui
| pO1SS iuAucfl uVlu VI WHICH alt t1uS uQQeO
| under the upper vessel, By which they art
| most eheetual1y protected; the anchor being
in like manner protected by the forward
projecting part Of the upper vessel, within
| which it is suspended in cylindrical
| chamber open from below. 4 steam engine
boiler and blowers, all snugly slowed away il
the lower vessel, complete the general Al
| ranEcment OF the battery. The upper vessel
| III feet long, and Al feet inches wide and
feet deep, is Of iron, and rises above waite
only Is inches. Its sides arc protected by
white oak bulwark, 80 inches thick. An armo
Of rolled iron plates, 6 inches thick, protect
the bulwarks from top to bottom, and prr
sentB sharp wedge at each end Of the vessel
The deck is shell proof. The lower yesse
is 1A feet long and ~ feet wide at the juno
ton With the upper vessel, and its depth is
light, as it is perfectly protected by the uppe
one The turret IS i wrought iron cylinder
inches thick, 20 feet internal diameter, fec
high, composed Of eight consecutive riugt
cacl one inch thick, all firmly bolted and ri,
etcd together. It will mount two guns Of th
largest calibrc, and BY q mechanical arrange
mc1lt the turret can be turned and the gun
pointed III any direction. This singular M
Chine has an equally singular condition a
tached to its acceptance BY tile Navy Depar
mcnt. The trial Of the efficiency Of tho ba
tcry must be made under the guns Of the en
mys batteries, at the shortest ranges. tt
United States is to furnish guns and amnlun
ton, as well as officers and men. The battc,
must be ready for use in one hundred da.
from the 9Th Of October. Ono thousand nj
are employed upon ii at New York.