Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-11-06
Ilon.pIated YcsseIs.

y, Dir. Mckay says that ships not protected
BY iron casing viii hardly play any part
In future naval warfare. For common
u peace service, the old kind Of ships will
probably continue on foreign stations, but
for actual warfare theirtimeis past. The
French have now two floating batteries,
the PeihO and Saigon, Of I5Q horse power,
and plated with ~ inch iron. They have
3 speed Of @ knots per hour. They have
also four iron-eased frigates, the Gloire,
Eormandie, InvineIble and CeurOnne, arm
ed with SO riaed 80 Founders, and having
engines Of 600 horse power. Their speed
is lst knots per hour. They are plated
from stem to stern with q inch plates
They have an iron tower behind the main
mast which contains the steering wheel,
and Is also the captains station IN action.
The Couronne is built Of iron; the others
Of timber. The French have, further, two
iron-cssed rsm-ships Solferino and Magen-
ta4 Of 81 guns and 1000 horse power
They are built Of timber. The stem and
stern are not cased, and may therefore be
destroyed in fight. The speed of these
ram ships is 13} knots.
On the stocks the French have two iron
eased floating batteries, the Paixhans and
Palestro, Zone of these has been launched)
Of "a guns and $50 horse power. Also,
seven smaller irOu-cased floating batteries
for harbor defense, built Of iron. These
are the Arogante, Implaoable, Opiniatre,
Ambuscade, Impregnable, Protective and
Refuge. They have engines of $50 horse
power, and eight heavy guns each. They
will be completed by the autumn of 1868.
Also ten iron-cased frigates, on the Glolre
plan. Nine Of these, the Provence Savoie,
Revaneke, Flandre, Gauloise, Magnanime,
Valeureuse, Surveillante and Guyenne,
are being built Of timber, and one, the He
roine, Of iron. All these can, in emergency,
be completed by the end Of next year.
So much for the French 1eet. The Eng
Hsh have completed only the Warrior and
Black Prince of Al guns and l2lO horse
power each, the Defense and Resistance, Of
ls guns and 600 horse power. The two
former are built of iron, and 1t is found
that Notwithstanding its strength and
ightness, iron is not as good as timber,
from the fact that the bottom inevitably
fouls aud retards the speed accordingly.
Of English ships now building there are
the following: The Achilles, similar to the
Warrior, which will be two years in build
ing, on account Of the difficulty Of procur-
ing iron which will stand lhe required
test Of strengths the Hector and Valiant,
Of 80 guns and 800 horse power, the
Armament, to consist of 6S-pounder solid
shot guns, and 100 and llO-pounder guns;
the Prince Albert, of u guns, 500 horse
power, to be provided with six cupOlas or
turrets, on Captain Coils plan. All these
are being built of iron.
Of wooden lron-cased vessels the most
formidable are the fighters Of 81 guns,
converted from the 81 screw lne-of-battle
ships laid down in 1859. These are the
Ocean and Prince Consort each of 1000
horse power, and tho Caledonia, Royal
Oak and Royal Alfred, of 800 horse pow
er. The Prince Cousort and Royal Oak
have lately been launched; the others are
on the stocks. The Royal Sovereign,
screw lIne-of-battle ship, Of 13l guns, is
being transformed into a shield ship on
Captain Coles plan. Other smaller craft
make up list Of sixteen iron-cased frig-
ates and two iron-cssed corvettes, which
the English can muster in a year and
half.
Coming now to the navy Of the United
States, Mckay says, that, while the AIOni-
tors we are building are very serviceable
in defending harbors, they are entirely
unfit to break blockade. or to fight upon
the high seas, lhey being no seabOats at
an. With their light draught of water
they cannot obtain q high rate Of speed,
and if they shoald fan in with any of
these formidable frigates they would prob
ably be run dOwn. He says that Of all
the iroD-cassd shipI which We have, the
only one that might successfully cope with
the large English frigatesis the IrOusides,
built In Philadelphia. She is well-plan-
ned, and her practical construction very
well executed, but her speed Is too slow to
use the good points of the vessel to advan-
tage, and the way Of fastening her plates
will not stand the test Of a heavy cannon
-sdei for In the experiments made in Eng
land with armour plates, similarly fas-
tened BY screw bolts screwed in from the
inside, the bolts broke of short on the in-
side Of the plate whenever heavy shot
strikes the plate near such bolts.
Of the necessities of the United States,
to maintain cur position as naval power,
Mr.. Mckay says in closing:
q Not to be compelled to keep on the de-
fensive, lin itself defeat in case of
war with any Of the great naval powers, it
is absolutely necessary that we should
have at least twenty large, powerful, iron
cased frigates, that can be used also as
rams, of at least II knots speed, capable to
carry ten days coal and not exceeding q
draught Of water Of twenty-four feet.
With less draught it Is impossible to i'm
part to such large ships the above high
speed They ought 10 be built Of wood,
that they can be coppered, thus avoiding
loss Of speed on account Of the fouling Of
the bottom. In easeof the ships striking,
8 wooden bottom never Is injured in like
manner as an iron one Invariably is, and
besides the wooden frame affords much
better backing TO the armor plates than