New-York tribune., 1870-08-12

is lost and the iron plating which is of great weght
and an incumbrance to tho speed and RAPID move
ments of the ship. is carried to dnaios"n''eo'
French guns are too light to do mucn oaiaEo "v 'o
present day as all other governments nave some spS
,orod 90 shst,ntially that they would resist them
efectualIy. IL must be borne In mind that am
| snooLing of these ships with view to comparing
tbem with other ships of equal size and dsplace-
ment.
Steam has introduceda new and important element
in naval warfare, viz the employment of the vessel
itself as ram. This resOrted to with success by
the Austrian Admiral Tegethol in the battle oil LIS
sa his own vessel sinking the Italian ship Re de la
| ia built by Mr.. Webb of NewYork) and one other
vessel in two three minutes. In the case OF the e
dc Italia, Tegethoff took advantage OF moment
when she was slowing up to allow the Italian Auni
raj to get into his boat to go aboard another si'p
and struck her full head on and crushed her ike al
egg shell. If she had been handy as the Ehsh'"
she might have been twisted around SOL at any
rate to make the Austrian ship strike her giahCns
blow Ramming may be resorted to also in a heet
enveloned in smoke vet it need seldom succeed III
single combat if both ntagOniss are equally handy.
Admiral buchanan of the Rebel navy tired
to sink the little Monitor but failed lie
struck her broadsde or nearly sosay at an angle OF
four or five deHees-expectng TO crush in her side or
run her under but the only effect was to careen her
little without doing any damage. Had the Monitor
been armed with 15-inch gun at that moment the
career Of the Merrimac would have been bought to
close at once.
Many persons would pronounce the Dunderberg (Ro-
chambeau the most formidable ship in the French Navy
and, considering her guns only, it is true. When she
left the United States she had two l6nch guns but
one OF them has since then been replaced with
9inch She will undoubtedly prove ugly customer to
any antagonist account of her weight Of metal To
IN
and such part she has in the impending naval war
fare will be at Her draugh Of water is so great
(twenty-one feet that the damage she do to any
Prussian fort will be confined TO very narrow limits
She may lie of and on and throw shot effectively at q
range Of say $500 yards, but this only in suitable
weather Her armor plating is only inches thick,
and although laid at different angles, it would af-
ford but little protection against the crushing force
of Of the great guns at kiel and other places In
recent trials at Shoeburyness with IS inch gum the ball.
weighing about 800 pounds, at distance OF 1000 yards
penetrated the 9nch target Of ron backed by about four
feet of wood and stone and smashed into fragments 1t
can readily he seen therefore, how the sides of the Dun
derberg would fare in action at short range with
Prussian artillery Of such caliber. Another very i'm
portan defect this vessel is her very great length 39
feet which prevents her being maneuvered at all in any
Of harbors of Prussia and subjects her to great disad
vantage in any engagement at Having but one screw
there other TO turn her except by her rud
der and in case this is disabled she would be at the
mercy Of the enemy. Even if this should not happen her
movements necessarily so very slow that she could
easily be got into position where she would be perfectly
harmless She has twoporhoes aft and two forward by
which the guns be trained to line with the keel
but each angle of her casematc there is an are OF
nearly 40 degrees entirely out of the range OF fire, and it,
by skul handling her antagonist, antagonists, can
cOntrve to keep within these arcs, they would be
rey out of reach of her guns This not at all an i'm
possible thing for vessels Of proper length with twin
I
between them there is between an active swordhsh
and heavy numbering whale-the former dartng about
and attacking first one side, then the other, all the While
keeping out of reach of the terrific ukes. The French
Government spent about 100000 francs 4OOoO on the
Dunderberg after her arrival at Cherb0urg, in atera-
tions of the stern, bow, machinery etc, making her
total to them in the neghborhood of 100000 Her
plating is of solid iron, with backing Of yellow pine
about the worst material that could have been
selected for the purpose account Of its feeble resist
ance to the impact of shot and the spnters it makes
when shattered The Dunderberg's easemate is similar
that of the Confederate Atlanta, which was cap
tured by the monitor weehawken after fight of een
minutes In form and in thickness Of plating the two
are about identical, and far the ability to resist
shot is concerned, the Atlanta was fully
| equal to the Dunderberg; yet a little monitor
| took only a quarter of an hour to capture
her. In this engagement circumstance was noticed
which has direct bearing upon the question Of the mer
its OF the European and Confederate casemate plan,
viz the 15nch shot struck the casemate with such re-
mendou force to prostrate nearly every man at the
guns and If the vessel had not been disabled it was
believed that the could not have fought the guns
badly were they stunned The Dunderberg has not that
defensive quality which ship of her armament should
have. Her great length presents target that cannot
well be missed and said before, prevents her being
rapidly unanswered. Her great speed will give her
much advantage, in certain cases. over other ships but
as she is altogether too long, and not likely TO be
| off ne
noticed.
The ram Taureau, iwhose real displacement is 2iOO
tuns but which has been enormously stated at more
than 3OO has engines of 800 horsepower draft Of II
feet inches and speed Of II knots per hour. Her
plating is six inches thick and terminates forward in a
bronze This vessel intended to be perfect
embodiment of the principle Of naval warfare, by
ramming. Being only 196 feet in length, she will
doubt be very dangerous assailant among feet en-
velOped in smoke, is usually the in engage
ment. Except a ram, however she possesses little
value for offensive purposes, having only gun of the
small calber Of "A inches Her plating is insufficient to
afford much protection and her speed is so slight that,
unless cooperating with fleet, her deeds in this will
barely repay the EmperOr constructors the trouble and
| expense they have been at.
1t cannot fail to be observed that the designers Of the
war-shp of France TO have been possessed with
the predominant idea that by adopting almost every con-
cevabe form, size, and shape some one or more would
pretty certainly he effective There is conspicuous alb
of that strength and sodty which to be seen
in the ships OF other nations. Although France has
many ships, yet, all things considered fail to find
very formidable navy the dockyards Of Cherbourg,
| BTest, and Toulon. sR
| PARIS WHILE AWAITING THE CONFLICT.
DULL TIMES IN PARIs-NEwSPAPER DIFFICUL-
| TIEs-THE TROOPS--A STREET sCENE-sANI-
TARY AND COMMISsARY ARRANGEMENTS.
| PARIS, July 25-I dare say you will open
your eyes TO read that have little news to send YOU