New-York tribune., 1870-08-12
WAR CORRESPONDENCE.
THE GREAT NAVIES.
No. I-FRANCE.
CRITICAL SURVEY by OUR SPECIAL CoRRE-
SPONDENT.

Aiilca' ana America, not so much TO present true
catalogue of the vessels and tabular statistics of their
tunnage, armament, and cost as to point out their
several merits and defects and if possible show the
present condition of naval architecture throughout
the world. have been on board every ship OF when
shall speak made most of the measurements anu
drawings myself. and compared views with the per
sons in each country whose position, kno"leueo' i"
experience best entitle them to respect1ui
So far as my ability to comprehend the su"9e' "'|
report what Ib9ve seen and heard, may 60 ln'ehu
20 speak fairly and mparally in eaeh case "l'ou'
fear OF favor.
T1,o 6,st ,ronosition which common sense would
seem to sucoest in q consideration OF the subject III
III :; ut the naval strength of the country is not
bo,oosnrcd by the number of its ships butby their
individual effectiveness. There was time when all
vessels. were built Of wood and all their guns were
of about the same calber, and hence the navy that
could hiring the greatest number into action could
count in advance upon victory, unless some latal
bunder on their part or some exceptionally brilliant
seamanship on the part of their antagonists should
snatch triumph from the very jaws of disaster
The "wocden walls" of England were no more I'M
penctrable to the enemy's shot than the walls OPP
nosd To tleu, and ii was simple question of endur-
ancc which should so to the bottom first. But the
Tourney of the mailed monsters in Hampton ROads
changed all that and in that brief conflict every
cherished theory of naval warfare was demoIsheu'
1t was shown at that time that something
mora than more guns and sea going quail
ties were needed in a man-of-war, and that
WAS Items Of Defcnse: and that this was TO DE
lad solely BY the Use Of amOr-platlng The crush
ing effect of modern ordnance was found to be such
that a wooden slip absolutely no protection TO
herbattery magazines, machinery, or crew, and when
foTcign nations recovered from the dismay into which
this lesson threw them, they set to work to rebuild,
strengthen and alter their ships and construct new
ones either upon EricssOns model or after plans
which they hoped and believed to be improvements
uuon IT, After the lapse of ten years the results as
exhibited in the several dOck-yards are as narrated
here. / count the ships Of the old class as OF no
value except TRANSPORTS cruisers III waters ln-
tested by pirates, or on blockade duty. where no
more formidable adversares than merchantmen car
ryinc light pieces to be encountered, and hence
shall content myself with their bare enumeration.
France is selected as the subject Of the first report
for two reasons: First she is actual beligerent,
and second she is the stronger by and her naval
power it is important to know. Ii may be remarked,
by way of parentheSis, that the armament of each
of the ships that l examined was as stated in these
articles when / saw them As my tour Of inspec-
tiOn extended over many months there may have
been some changes made in this particular since but
the ships remain the same and so do their merits
and defects.
Although the four essential features arrived at in
war vessel are ofiensveness defensiveness, speed
and sea-going qualities, very few ships combine
them all 1t will generally be found that the builder
has sacrificed one at least in trying to thoroughly
realize the Others and in too many cases, when put
to practical test it is found that only one-as, for
instance speed-has been attained. This is very apt
TO he the case with ships built 10y persons whose ex-
pericnce has been confined to the construction OF
merchant vessels and naturally enough for it can
not be expected that man who has learnt nothing
but how 10 build sailing clippers fast steamers
should have that faculty of calculating before
keel is laid for the weight of an armament, the
sowage of fuel and stores, and perfect defensive
ness and offensiveness in action. One might as
reasonably expect infantry officer who had never
studied cavalry tactics to handle mounted division
in a difficult country with credit to himself. Even
among naval constructors in each country there
is the widest possible difference in the success of
their war ships: and in no country have more re-
markabe illustrations Of this fact been seen than IN
The United States. ,-s-
The term ofensiveness when applied TO a vessel
means her power to destroy an enemy, and en-
braces hc use of guns, ram, or any other means to
inict injury. Defensiveness consists not merely III
iron armor Of sufficient thickness and strength to
resist shot or she'll for all this might be secured and
vet the vessel be defenseless against other means of
destruction. The concealment of the magazines,
machinery and other vital parts from the enemy, is
part of the defense a ship should always have.
Speed. to convey the floating fort-for such war
vessel really isn the shortest possible time to the de-
sired point is of importance and the same quail
fcation added to what the English call haRdReSs or
the ability to be easily turned and maneuvered In
action is equally desirable. A ship has the advan-
tage over fort in this, that while they may mount
the same means of ofense the one can be used only
in one place while the other be taken in pursuit
of an enemy or Withdrawn from danger in the event
of encountering superior force. ship should not
be considered possessed Of agOng qualities unless
she is able to keep at sea in the rOughes weather
without injury has such stability that her guns may
be quickly and accurately trained, and answers to
her helm so as to turn around in little time. These,
therefore are the elements which Will enter into my
calculation of the relative naval strength Of the
countries that have visited.
OF the French navy, % ships have displacement
Of more than 500 tuns each, and an average speed
OF 13 $40 miles per hour. They clad with iron
from A to inches in thickness, and in the aggregate
carry 47S guns, ranging from g. to lOs inches in cali
ber or diameter of bore In addition to these must
he counted the Rochambeau DundeIberg) with one
15-nch four ll-inch and nine 9l-nch guns, and the
Onondaga, with two 15-inch and two 11-inch guns.
The Onondaga is a double-tuneted monitor built for
the United States Navy, but, with the Rochambeau,
sold to France. Four of the ships above mentioned
carry four guns each, in stationary turrets at the
four corners Of a casemate or impregnable iron box
built amidships on the deck. The guns are of S-inch
caliber and weigh "A tuns. Other guns are carried
III the casemae itself, and fred through portfolios
with adjustable lids, the COuronne having no less
than 20.
These twenty-five vessels the monitors in
cluded constitute the real fighting strength of the