The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-09-13
THE LOSS OF THE CAPTAIN.

WtRON oWog OAOEANoSA VI euO AOStOinNAOhs
THE LOSS OF THE CAPTAIN.
From the N. Y. Tribune.
The loss of the splendid British iron-cad
Captain, in gale off Cape Finisterre, seems
to be accepted by many naval critics as con-
elusive against Capt Oowper Coles system
of sea-goiDg turret ships, of which she was
the first complete model 1t seems rash,
however to draw such deduction while the
story of the eighteen survivors is still un-
heard; for the Captain had previously wea-
thered heavy gale in the Bay of Biscay, and
behaved SO admirably as to give the authori-
ties perfect confidence in her safety during
the hardest storms. The Captain, like the
Monarch, was an attempt TO combine the in
vulnerability of a monitor with the sea-
worthiness of a ship-of-the-line. In both
vessels it was believed that the problem of
uniting buoyancy with enormous thickness
of armament had been finally solved. They
had two enormous turrets, placed
close together amidships, each mounting
two 25-ton rihed guns, throwing a solid
elongated projectile of 600 pounds, or q shell
of proportionate weight, and in the forecastle
and poop there were two or three bow guns
and stern chasers of smaller calibre. Full
ship-rigged, with two independent screws,
engines of extraordinary power, steering appa-
AdIuo VI CuAlOuo pSIl6CllOLl, anu eN0Ty
improvement which has ever been found of
value in the equipment of ship-of- war, they
were generally regarded as the most magnifi-
cent specimens of naval architecture the world
had ever seen. The Monarch (the older of
the two) was not built strictly according to
Captain Coles plan. Many important modi-
fcations were introduced at the suggestion of
Mr.. Reed, the Chief Constructor of the ROYAL
Navy, the principal of which, if we are not
81 I.
lively high freeboard of IA feet above the
water line. This of course exposed an extern
sive surface to the fire of an enemy, but was
supposed to be essential for safety at sea:
and from similar considerations of safety the
forecastle was built up to level with the top
of the turrets, thus depriving the ship of the
advantage of firing forward from her heavy
guns. Crptain Coles, an officer who had
rendered himself famous both by brilliant
services in action during the Crimean war,
and by many ingenious improvements in
naval construction and armament, was per-
suaded that he could build thoroughly sea-
worthy turret-ship, with a low freeboard,
and carrying the heaviest guns and thickest
armor ever used at sea. He was allowed
after long dispute and persistency, to make
contract with the Lairds of Birkenhead for the
construction of a ship according TO his plans,
and the Captain, named after the famous YES
sci which Nelson commanded at the battle of
Cape st. Vincent, was completed under this
arrangement only few months ago.
Her first cruise, we believe, was made in
company with the Monarch. A cable des-
patch at the time represented her perform
ance as disappointment; but mail advices
proved this report to be entirely false. She
behaved admirably, both in rough and plea
SAINT weather, and under sail, in spite of GER
tain drawbacks which could easily be re-
medied, she fairly beat the Monarch which
latter ship, it will be remembered, when she
came to America with the remains of Mr..
Peabody, was the admiration of all our sail
ors for her speed, steadiness, and ease of
handling. The Captain afterward Joined
Admiral Sir t. G. Symonds' squadron in the
Bay of Biscay, where, on the Both of May,
she rode out violent gale in the most beau
tiful manner, the waves sweeping over her
decks, while not q bucketful of water
entered the vessel. In the midst of the
storm the turret guns, by way of experiment,
were fired to windward, with full battering
charges. On another occasion the guns were
fred at mark, in the midst of heavy
storm, and at the third discharge the target
was demolished at distance of 1000 Yards
If trial trips can prove anything, they seem
then to have proved that the Captain was in
far less danger of laundering than wooden
ship of the same size, and we shall await with
curiosity the detailed accounts of this catas-
trophe, which at first sight seems to over
turn with one blow one of the most important
and persistently held theories of naval archi-
lecture. The loss of the Captain is the more
shocking because her designer, Captain Coles,
has perished with her. Another of the vic
Tins, Mr.. Childers, son of the First Lord of
the Admiralty, was, if our memory serves us,
one of the Junior officers of the Monarch, on
her visit to this country. Lord Northbrook,
third victim, was Under Secretary for War
The commander of the unfortunate vessel was
Captain H. T.. Burgoyne.