New Orleans daily crescent., 1866-08-30

tile top. would be au untenable postin naval en-.
parenent as il would be exposed to the shots ~
the enemy's marines in the tops,
This fault, was, however Of no eopseq t Il Il
her attack nlon the forts, aud she took no pitV y
the sea ight She carries no guns upon aeeh' @ "ll9
the captain is therefore, the only person 81 etsN
to fire. Upon going below found he5 "lian Snt go
of our own iron-clads have been calou-. NJ q 80 80
hoS of runs The portfolios are barely eisat ny q,
ss,,n5aT awbteb il not nearly sufficient Gor tte
proper working of guns Inc lOtal leLSt VI " ~ -
vessel ID only $50 feet Her aTmament CONSISTS u
four sixty.sgt Founders, with steel preeene s ,So
and capable Of carrying cylindrical saot ol + ~
noiHas; ten rife ty-two.pounders! ,taI nsJ
strengthened with Steel and carrying
balls Of 60 pounds; and six ordinary ~
FOUNDERS ; in all twenty guns by ,a No. $3.50 ~
erinp the nunber of shot that struck e oe
considered piece of extraordinary good fortune, tl
not single shot entered her tIoles anu purss
inside but one struck Just al me euge oI one OF
them, spnering the pa,,g anu te ; t W
nlafe and shell entered the pokAhoies Alli1ha tHo
men and wounding ten others. 49,
i TrI , Saws ne fearful destruction which shell
axnIodnF fairly inside would have wrought.
INQUIRED i the smoke Of so many guns exploding
u eloss together had not been very sitting, but
was told that they were little inConvenienced by
the smoke of their own guns, but that the smoke
from the shells when they burst near the port.
holes was Of a very suttpcatng character, and
that the one especially which burst at the edge OF
tie portfolio had quite lled that part of the ship,
and had rendered it impossible to work the guns
near for some minutes. The boats Of the Formi.
dahile were blown to pieces, and euriously
enough, one of the shells had exploded just under
the lower end Of one Of the davits, blowing it W
ont Of its socket and fairly into the air. 1t Tel
into the water and was lost. Six Of the port shut
ters were shot away during the engagement.
The engines were supplied by the French houst
who built the ship; they were of 4s0 horse power
and gave great satisfaction, as, indeed they wei
may, for the Formidable and her sister ship, Il
spite of their shortness and width, are by far tn
fastest ships in the Italian navy, steaming twelv
knots an hour, and are capable of going thirtee
upon an emergency. The consumption OF coal
| a little over two tons an hour, and steaming q
twelve knots an hour they carry coal sufficient 70
six days. but steaming at eight knots, the rate 0
the rest of the fleet the coal will last for lively
| DAYS. The Formidable and Terrible are entrel
iron vessels whereas the Re d'Italia and Re di POI
| togallo are wooden ones.
Their armor consists of four half inch plate
| with foot of wooden backing, and an Interni
| skin of inch iron. With the exception OF th
number and closeness to each other OF the por
holes, thelFormidabile and Terrible have but OF
serious defect and this is the nearness of IL
/ portfolios to the waters edge. The slls of ii
4 portfolios are not more than four and half
1 i've feet above the water line, which in an,
thing like roungh weather whould render it IN
possible for them to use their guns. vi conrF
Il in the comparatively still waters of the Medite
/ ranean and Adriatic the defect is of less cons
U qaence but it would be an insuperable obJe
J ton to ships intended to navigate the roug
waters Of the Atlantic.
On a day when they were able to work the
| guns consider either of them to be fully mate
for the Re di Portogallo although that ship ca
/ ries heavier metal and is near four times the
tonnage; bnt the advantage is, to my mind, mol
: than counterbalanced by the superior spec
greater handiness in turning, owing to their sho
{ squat shape, the possession of ram, and the al
vantage Of perfectly protected rudder possesse
bv the F0rmidabileand Terrible.