The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-01-10

:
RICHMOND
-...s-- AA - . - q - q ~ 4 ].
-. = = =
TINE 1AON NAv1ES or TRANCE AND
EnGLAND.
81
NJ r,.-.ta = - ... - r...,,..'
MI. A'aaae0 MeSAk3s tne = ankee solP sOuliuer
of Bosson, has been enaaged for some months
naat In Waiting the Euronaan rnvv.varda and
r...,,,,.a s,..,.....,...
- S0'1.''D''a M '.1 s0e1s'' - ~" o.e01 sss'osS
TO the boston Commercial Baleftn. The IN
FORMATION which he gives concerning the iron
,..a.,s 20 ~. Ereneh, nd En.,I;zh ,,.s.;a.; :; :;
,erestinp and valuable.
Writing from Paris. Mr.. Mckay descr;bes
the progre4A of the fon-clad war vessels Of
the two nations, and ehows what are the nd
vantages OF France over England. In addi-
ton to ten lron-ciad floating batteries, con-
sfructed during and Ah0rtiy after the Crimean
war, F'rance has also construc cted four iron
frlgateS OF the GloIre ciasH, lthe Gl0iye. Nor
mandie, lnyineible, and Conronne, J two floaa.
ing batteries, tthe Peiho and Saigon,) and two
| iron rams fSolferino and Magenta. :, and has on
| the stocks nine more hoating batteries and ten
| iron tfigates II il IN contemplation to finish
all theSs vessels in five wears. but in case OF
| necessity they conlf be completed IN fna year
| The Enrlish have completed ouly four irsas.
| clad frieaaes. fIl.e Warrior. BlaAk prinee n.
fai,pA and I<s;skAncA btrf Gre ilF1iys6 fl&
/ Aahiliess Heetns. xsl;ant. xaiueesarf NinS.
taur, Norshurnberla1id, Prince Albert, -iau IRON
ships,) and the wooden ships Prince Consort,
Ocean, Caledonia, Royal Oak, and Royal AL
| fred all Of which are now casing with iron.
The summing up is as follows in Mr.. Mckay 3
own words:
| "1he French can have by the end of the
year a feet of sixteen iron-cased frigates fit
| for foreign service, and the English can mus
| ter in a year and half sixteen iron-cased fri
gates and two iron cased corvettes, all lit for
! foreign service and for an aggressive war
| far,
'oihe u tue pseuiiafi'ieS Va .ne fe"e'i i''"
navy are TINS noted by Mr.. Mckay:
"The iron-cased ram ships Solfarino and Ma
| genta, of fifty two guns and 900 horse power,
are ohitt OF tnnper' Inc iron.caslng up 70 inc
| two hatterea ars only casad .m;dahins cover.
| inc tbirteeu puns in each battery or each
| deck. The batteries are continued ioutside OF
| AN ron.cassd bulkhead, 10 stem and stern,
/ similar TO tba Warrior. and left to destruction
| in case of a fight. The stem incfnes from the
| loati.iine upwards in a graceful hollow line
| backwards, and is on the upper part ornament
| ed with an eagle. About three feet below the
| the vessel. is heavy wrought iron spar of six
| teen tons weight for running down other YES
! sells.
| "The new iron -cased frgates are on a sitni
lar plan to the Gloire, but with little greater
! length and more height of battery. While the
Gloire aud her sister ships have only ak feet
| height of battery. the new frigates will have
their ports seven and a quarter feet above the
water. Nine of these trigates, viz the Pro-
sshce, oaso,e, nasaneHe H;,,, rlihare, aaaioise'
s,,ns ave h,,t If ,;mhar. only one the Ua.
roine, is building of iron at l. Orient.
Two iron-cased ioabng batteries, Pa,xhan
hnnsred ana fifty horse mower bniIt If timber
They have no rudder. and will be staered by
| large fms or leeboards. experience having
! shown that the common rudders are entirely
| insufficient for steering these shissn
! NJ, ;,,,.>, .,,a,,,. i, III. Eo.,Gs. ;,a,;
Ne" inp' ''' sn' Lug '''''' a on AZ 20
| are described as ioiows'
+ There are two other classes of shipe buiid-
ing on plans Of Mr. Reed, naval architect, who
| got a temporary appointment in the navy. The
charscteristies of these ships are that they are
only plated 81 little above and below the load
line and the ,n.eiship part of the vessel contain.
| ING the guns. The object of the design is to
relieve the ends of his vessel of weight. The
ns.y as saa.s! gseat favss sgssssss tiiav
ty. and a great number Of 36-eun frigates are
TO be transformed into iron c:sed sloops Oh this
plan
"A small vessel on this plan, the ENTERPRISE,
| is building at Deptford dockyald She has q
Ieuatb of 1870 feet breadth of 36 feet, and
| drnnpht of water OF Is feet. Herenoines will
| be of 100 horse power, and her speed is esti
mated at $50 knots. She will carry an arma.
ment of four Armstrong i00-pounders."
Mr. ucKav draws nnfavorable deape,ions
.-.e -. -, :,
from eoinpfiison Vi 'noeo 'IoIoh ano Ing
lish ships with the class of U. $. Monitors, con-
tending that the latter cannot live in a sea
.ho. h.o,,,, f.;,,a,o ,o,,la a..
way anu '''''' q Ne'''s n's"'o "o"io '9h '"en'
down. lie says:
"If we compare with these immense fleets
the iron-c..sed navy of the United States im.
partially, we have To acknowledge that in case
of war with either Of the above powers, we
would have to keep entirely on the defensive,
to submit to disgraceful blockade, and 70
leave our merchant ships all over the globe 10
the mercy Of our enemy. All the Monitors
which we are building by the dozen, are very
| well to defend our harbOrs, but they are en-.
tirely unfit to break blockade or to act on
the high seas, for to say, that these vessels are
good sea beats, or suitable for men to live in
- simply ridiculous, IN winch statement will
pe nPneia ~ an eApe'iehceu Saiiors ana EMP
'',,ivvis W;s, oi ,bay any nose nsrs roh. a.
aSo,;.nra ,,.,-S ~ o4.,. tta; un, " watel
saS a"a ;f aa, oIa H., "hl.ia 9lfh uesies
VI hpso., a'o - - s.y .ey enouio lait III VIII
any any % ta',.;hIl baJaa .a Wa,er ihey
~ ge X ". .h;,',. r"a ',a. - al pfonanhny
.n'. aown .l nos .nas :nis ."ulu ho