, 1861-09-28
1HoN oI4b WAN .vEs,K;Ls.'
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Their Introduction fhtn eur MavEpe.
serfP!1oA * One 801ldlnE u agNl1e,


From the n. Z. Evening Post 95sh+1
Our government haa accepted propositions
for the construction Of iron cased ships OF
var from: :several firms in this city, In New
Hayen, md IN Philadelphia Some Of these
7eeeele a1e a1resdy begun. A. France, Eng
lsnd, Italy and Rusata Ge forming national
fleets constructed Of or cssed With iron, It IL
important to adop. similar prec8utians for the
protection OF cur maritime interests and the
support Of our naval supremacy. -.
Ihe experiments which have been made in
England and France seem to have proved that
there are 1nconVe1iepces In the large sizs Of
the Warrior, the Gloire, the solfeti1o aud the
Blaek Prince. which are regarded asthe French
ard English models Of iron c1Gd naval archl--
lecture and that the same number and weight
Of guns distributed in smaller ehips would be
more effective both tor offensive and defensive
has wiee1y decided to construct at present ou-
u such smaller Vesee!s 90, In The e1dstingstate
Of eur knowledge, are most likely to be Of
use. They are to be Of not less than ten nor
more than sixteen feet draught Of water.
Their lament viii be eighty to one huad-
red ard twenty tons weight, with provisions
!a and stores for one hundred and sixty:five to
ment, for sixty Gays, with coal for eight days.
Each vessel will depend chiefly on steam for
the meaEs OF propulsion, the boilers and ma.
Gl1ntrJ beng, Of courEe, below he water line
IffJ VIII, however, carry two m15ts, and ali
the standing-tigginy will be Of wire rape,
Although these ships viii rary from each
otter IN certain particulars, some general idea
OF their character may b. obtained by de-
serlrtion Of tne Of them, which is now build
ing bJ the contractors, Messra. C.. 8. Bushnell
q Company. at Mystic, Connecticut This
lzon Veesels ordered by the Italian govern
ment, iR, we believe, the first ever constructed
IN this country, will be somewhat over oae
theuEaLd tons register. Her length over all is
two hundred feet, and her extreme breadth
tauty-6lx feet six inches- She will draw about
elt5en feet Of water, and her depth Of hold is
Twelve fest eight Inches. She has wooden
frame and beams, the frame Of the vessel being
sold throughout. In many vessels Of this
bnild the frame is hollow, large spaces being
lett between the ribs and .imbers. This plan
has its advantages for large, rhips, but In
smaller ones such q sacrtdee Of strength tor .
saving Of weight is unnecessary. Consequent.
", the side Of our new gunboat viii present
one compact solid mass twenty inches thick
before receiving its impenetrable cuirass Of
iron plates.
Tie internal arrangements ara Of very su-
perier character. The cabi2s, wardroom and
stee1ages 1ill be fully equal to those of the
Few gunbcats recently launched at this port
She has one hush deck Of wood, which consti-
tutes the fighting deck, besides the usual
clear half decks fore and att; tie upper deck
bling the superior portion Of the bomb.proof
which covers the guns and protects the cre#
from vertical fire,
Unlike the GIoire and the new vessel build.
ing In England for the Emperor Of Russia,
she will have no beak projecting under water
in front Of her bow, and il. tharGfore, not in
tended IS "1amn to run down vessels at sea,
for which service her size. and weight would
rot be suitable But she Will be armed With
small hnxznrif 3n IF frf11 nro1eef f,ar.
| ward about five feet, and her bow will be
| cascd and made extremely strong. The bat
| teries are all worked under bomb-proof cas-
ings, and the guns are intended to be heavier
and Of larger calihre than anT heretofore car
| ried On ship-board.
| One pecGlia1ity in the construction Of thit
/ vessel Is that her model is 80 exquisitely PEE
| feet that Whatever position you place her in
she presents nothing but curved lines. ThiE
il, Of course, great advantage, for It
1amiiar]y Known that If target or shield o
any kind is struck st an angle or On slant
| the missile g1aLces off and the force Of tht
| blow is weakened and almost d5sh Dyed. Or
this principle the apgulated targets are COZ
| EtIucted, the experiment with which at Ports
month attracted so much notice in connection
with laval gun1ery in England. The contri
vance, however, in its principle, is no new one
for from the re1notest antiquity the cuirasse'
/ ard Shields OF warriors were made convex, tt
turn aside the blows Of the enemy, and Wert
! either tape1irg to a point in the centre o.
rounded off at the sides in the form Of semi
cylinders. As applied to ships of-war, no viewer
tie adaptation Of this principle is claimed tt
be new. Indeed, the plan is stated to be e1
fire1y different from anything hitherto reaiiz
ed, and in come important respects so superi
| or as to combine with the shot proof qualitiee
Of nn1 ieldy batteries with sloMng sides, the
l'ghtnees, 6Ritfness and mobility OF IN ordi
nnIy Eteam-gurboat. Though terrible ma
chine of destruction, aad inpregnable to al
attacks as submerged rock, ship On tht
Few model will, it is supposed, be as swift a.
| EAe i5 strong, AID as formidable In The attach
as reliable in the defence.
| Another advantage our new gunboats vii
have is their being constructed Of American
iron. Up to this time the high qualities O.
our Iron as adapted to such use have ne7e1
been tested, but tince we know it to be 70,
ether purposes the best in the world, that d
Sweden not excepted, there is every reason tt
anticipate for it equal superiority when prop
er]y manufactured into azmorplates for til,
protection Of vessels Of W2F. 1t is, however
Vi great importance that the pl.tes should b.
what are technically known ,as "rolled
p1atee, and not merely such Is IN their manu-
Lsmmer. For the experiments on the twt
kinds Of iron leave no doubt as to the i'm
mense superiority Of the former. And if on
l1on manufacturers have not the expensiv
macn1nery winch 1B necessary, It Will be bette
for US to brook few weeks delay than tt
1un ary risk or to m2r our first, experimen
in ircn clad vessels, b., using az: inferior kin
Of material.
| With regard to the advantages Of iron-case
ships the best authorities are divided, som
regarding them as capable Of being made IL
Vulnerable, while the nsjority seem to thin
that they can never be so constructed as t.
form formidable sea going feet for ofensiv
purposes. However future experience ma
decide this question as to large ahips, there j
no doubt abent the efficient sld If small srli
VesselA, such az We are constructing, eepeeia
y when used in ccDjuncion with sea-coas
batteries for the defence Of harbors, roaf
st6ads 2nd narroT channels,