The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-10
THE MONARCH.

Description Of the Great BrItIsh Iron-cIaa.
The arrival Of the British iron-clad Monarch In
American waters has created the lveliest interest In
naval and engineering circles as she Is looked upon
as superior type OF modern armored vessels, COM
lighting craft ana capable At the same Time Si Of
being used as q cruiser In the literal sense. The
naval naval authorities have had her thoroughly In
features; perhaps In time they may attempt the
construction OF similar class OF vessels While our
monitor system proved OF great service during the
Rebellion, and would again In event Of a war, yet
they would only serve Tor coast defense, as they
could not cope with the improved armored vessels
built by France and England since the war, which
are actually ocean cruisers carrying either heavy
broadsldes or ponderous guns mounted In turrets
II is useless 70 deny the fact that our war-worn
turret vessels are nearly useless by reason Of decay
hard usage they might naturally EXPECT in case Of
foreign war therefore 1t behooves our naval autho-
rites to watch with great care all the improvements
The Monarch is n vessel OF commanding appear
ance, OF bo9s tons She s $3.50 feet in length 81 feet
inches beam. Her battery il carried in two OF
Captain Cowper Coles turrets with three chase guns
OF less calibre, mounted at the extremties and
protected by an armored casenate. The weight of
the hull, with skin plating and extra girders in-
cluded, is s674 tons; the other weights
tons The nuiiwAcn Is Of iron. Is proteeted sSs5
by I-inch iron armor on the most important parts,
ana Sfch on the other parts the plating being sup
thickness OF skin-plating and an arrangement
Of longitudinal girders which are worked
work OF framing in conjunction with the strong ver.
teal frames inside the skn-plating which are about
the same distance apart This device has proved so
satisfactory regards the eicient support It gives
10 the armored side that 1t las been adopted In All
British iron-clads built since the famous Belero-
phon. The turrets of the Monarch are 26 feet
inches in diameter and are constructed on the same
principle as her side armor
The bow of the Monarch is specially constructed
and strengthened to allow her TO be used as a ram
while provision is made for the prevention OF serious
consequences should she sustain injuries while SO
employed. The spur or ram may be completely
Knocked of without endangerng the main structure
in the least She was butt at the Chatham dock yard
and cost about G55 per ton. The bills footed up a
total outlay on labor and materials, c175519, or
total, with 12h per cent. on actual outlay at the
dock yard OF G194, 1872 She is fitted out as q full
rigged ship, and instead OF the 'trpod" masts she
has ordinary iron ones. A light, lofty upper deck
receives the boats and affords u passage for the
worked upon the upper deck, over which the turrets
have to fire, and consequently number of contri-
vances have been fitted to keep both the standing
and running rigging toerably clear of the guns.
The standing rigging is of iron wire, and when the
ship goes into action it is quickly trced up and the
nying iron deck is topped up out Of the way. An
armored pilOt-house is provided, in which the COM
mander is stationed In action and by means OF q
| syetemi OF teegraphy is enabled to communicate
with the steering wheel, engines, turrets and the
batteries located at the eXtremities The Monarch,
well other vessels Of the British navy is fitted
with gas works, and can be lighted throughout with
the steering machine. and variety OF labor-savng
| machines are distributed throughout the ship.
Among them are several OF Caneron's especial
Steam Pumps an American invention which has
| found favor in Europe, and is now being exten.
sivelv adopted in the Royal navy Some OF the
turret engines and machinery OF the Monarch have
| been supplied by the agents of the same inventor
Her accommodations for officers and crew are
| complete, and she is ventilated in the most perfect
manner. There can be no question but that she i:
| the "crack ship" of the royal navy.