The New York herald., 1866-07-31

a1 inclination towards the bottom, forming solid gnarA
TO protect the bottom from proiecties On TINS rnll
with the exception Of fourth OF length FORWARD a' nv
inclined casemate Of SIX inch Iron was buiit @ithn
the casemate the Herrmac carried ner Oh" cry; tno
ports had closing gear This vessel also ioS ived I'M
mensc weight OF metal against her amor Ma o'd no'
suffer.
The improvements made by the Confed crates on their
iron cads was as great as those made 20 our honnu
indeed light draught monitors better hull han tnat
Of the Confederate ram could be substituted fr
the present overhang and bottom Greater speed coud
be obtained and better bow ior applying 'no
In carrying the weigfs OF armor and battery 50 near to
the water surfaces In me case o. ,uv ~ IN
And battery is over the centre OF tno vessel
and the lateral uslnng s given oy macmnery, tne
heaviest metal can be carried such not the case In
side rn vessels Then each turret Is separate battery;
the disabling will not affect the other The turret
presents small target not easily struck In sea way.
| fhough the sea may break monitor, yet her bat
tery will be manageable The would be the
In those ror rased ships with their raised far
above tho water line as 10 thcm topheavy While
they wohd roll undr and have an ineffective battery
monitor could ply the ffieennch two Of which would
snce 10 crush and half inch plated sides refer
10 the Monadnock class of monors-the eeagoing mon
tors or clads of the United States.
For light draughs and clads the Confederate hus
with addeDda Of urrcts would be the thing Our river
oiads did not prove inYpinerable:
The third model selected by the Board appointed for
The purpose was the Galenn. She made her debut and
exit Ia the battle OF Fort Darng nearly every proectle
passed through her She afterwards turned into
gunboat.
UNITED STATES IRos cIADa
Monadnock class tsea-going).
hhatsklh.
River monitors iron clad casenate) e)............12
Rams ..........................-
Lgpt draught monitors. IL
Total......................................7s Total. .7s
In addition 10 this formidable force we have ten or
twelve confcderaccads captured surrendered; Two
OF ErcsSons sea going monitosPuritan and Dictator
unfortunately they have the overhang the Roanoke Of
three turrets her hull Is too weak the Ironsides with
her sides armored, bows and stem unprotected-the
Ironsides gave good account of herself and proved
most valuable and efficient vessel better adapted TO
hammering Notifications than the monitors, yet she
would be unable to cope with OF them. Finally the
DunderbergHl she carries her battery casemate
OF wood clad with four and hafnch iron plates she s
pierced for many guns, three OF which will be fifteen
inches to balance eleven inches; the fifteen inches
lateral training will be given by machinery; the Dun
derberg Is provided with long RAM Of solid wood, well
clad and beaked with iron we win not at present. ex
press an opinion OF this vessel, wo will delay de.
scrbing her thoroughly till she s completed and
ready for service. We doubt whether she carry,
Effectively her heavy battery, stor ammunition &c.
We venture say that though her battery will be pow.
erfu yet it viii surpass the physical powers of the gun
fight il with rapidty tor a continuance of more
than half an hour Monitors have the Examinations
providing gear" at hand and under the muzzle
of the pieces. On board the Dunderbcrg it will be
necessary TO transport 1t to the guns. At any OF
the MoDadnock and sister ships and the Dunderberg
we give preference 10 the former.
TEoN-cI.ADs or FRANCE.
To France Dire the credit of the first agoing IRON
clad Her trial of armored batteries OFF KnbuIn fol-
lowed by Improvements in iron plates and by their ap
plicatlon to the sides OF sea going vessels.
In tho engagement of kinburn, though tho vessels
armor not injured many Of the batteries men wero
killed and wounded. This owing 10 the open ports
unprotected by iron closers Tho batteries had nino
ports each side They averaged three feet in width
and length, or nine square feet per port This is
equivalent OF eighty square feet of open or unpro
tected space each SIDE Through these ports shells
penetrated and caused DEATHS havoc 10 this obseY
vation made under fire, which suggested the proprety
Of port closers and made ronclads invulncrabe
dinary artillery.
French constructors ordered 10 their utmost
endeavors to forward the Emperors views and as Ma
poeon med the origin Of clad batteries his subordn
ates naturally and favorabIy inclined to the in
rovation. To their cxertions the Glore, tho
first going iron-cad cased frTate a1oat.
The Goire was commenced in 1858, launched
in 1850 and armedin 1890 She Is clad from stem TO
stern not alone the upper gundeck, but down to six
feet low the ine her engines OF 900 horse
power her speed thirteen knots with all furnaces active,
and eleven knots with half furnaces in operation To
the happy result OF the Goires al trips may be attrb
ucd the construction Of the following vessels compris-
ing the French iron. clad feet In 1865 -