, 1862-04-25
TEE FUTURE IRON NAVY.
Important Experiment at Shoebury
nG84.

The admiralty have contracted with Mcssrs.
Samuda 1or the construction of one of the en- :
l,ola iron siips-of war, under the invention Of
captain coles, OF which the Monitor is ~, i'm
perfect imitation. The price is to be Ell, $50
pr ton, l1clnding everything, and the vessel
TO be ready for launching on the StA of Feb
ru2ry L. II, and 10 be delivered lit for sca on
the Isl # June following.
The 1t;ies contains an account of eype-i-
nlents at ssloc5uryncss on Tuesday with 4 run
OF large ~izr and great caliber, which showed
at every discharge that our best and hitherto
considered lnyulucrab1e forms OF iron sides
were, so SO speak, almost Is easily penetrated
hy shot, us II the targets had been Of tim
Der. Alter all our labor and ali our
expeIsc, after having made beyond com-
larison. the finest and strongest iron
irl@a'cs in The world, VIC nov find that
opposite L large lnu2zlv-loadirg gun the best
of our lIen-sides can be as easlly riddlcd and
sunk rs wooden suiiing yc.scls THIS disloy-
cry, ul1y made Or TUESDAY afternoon last. is
cIe to 1r kc.n and w!io,esoIa. rivalry be-
tween TIC War o:iic:; ard tue Admiralty, the
"incr s'rl' inE to devise iEresisti,lc a:tilI.ry.
sIa ire i"fter to build inyulacrublc SHIPS
j Il: re lHt= !'rt'n m Immense variety of cxp:ri-
nen1f oi every conceivable toral Of ttIrvt.
and 'trrn eTrrs possible combination of iron
and W"d, iron and india rubber, iron and
"1fe. l'on :':;d hemp, and every section ot the
AnGT1ta1 Monitor has been erected aud
nleu AZ II Sltoe3uryness. and proved 20 be As
'uIu' I.hic as timber, and that no chance
may hp neglected, 4 target Is being made
OF f:'i"ay bars, dnyctailrd and r;y,.te5
t'@cthtr in the seme ingenious manner as ttc
coatlng Of the Mcrrimac, and this elso Will h.
tEltd III . few days, and, hryond doubt,
With much ihc sanne results that attended tue
Monitor target During recent experiment
$ target, cxac!ly Of TIE same material aud
strength as the Warriors broadside, was sub
Jeeted during the whole of one day and part
ol Il second to a tremendous fire, but tie
concentrated yo1leye few off in hail Of iron
spnnfers. The target grew almost red hot in
PARTS, hut no missile passed beyond its iron
urinor: The Warrior, therefore, snd iron. .ships
were justly deemed invulnerahle. Sir II.
Armstrong has letter IN to-day's Twcs. cy
planning the principle which has rendered the
last experiment successful in penetrating
gun has i velocity cxeeling that Of thr ri1,.
gun by more than 4 quarter. j smooth bore
gun has h.cn made hy Sir ". ArmstronT
length II feet, weight II tons, and 1t was tried
against tue Warrior target on Tuesday III pres
enGe o. lae Dukes of Cambridge and Somerset,
ang % othtr high /, officers Of the admiralty
ana war othcc- The first shot was 156 pounds
was tired Ut distance Of 200 yards, with
charge Of 10 pounds Of powder. This solved
al uouots, tae iron mass shattered intn
crumbs OF metal, and the teak splintered into
fbFes Literally Us small as Plus. Au increased
NuhE0 Nie uTAl llIt0, ana Tic Shot uaSSnt1 mt
only through the plates teak, and througl,
the inner skin, but buried itself in tie 1nassiie
tin'bers that supported the target. These
two shuts were quite conclusive Is to the
POWER Of the gun. Sir ". Armstrong says
that gun Of II tons weight, fired With
charge Of ~ pounds of powder, will break
through the side OF tue Warrior or the strong
est ship atloat- The Times remarks that no
weapon OF ofense or defense seems left to us
nov now. so Effective as large armor clad and