Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-06-01

We have hitherto triefy referred 10 the
monster iron clad, fhe fntsxsJ<, in process
Of construction ia Eng1aad, a. the Isrgess
and most powerful was-voesel II TIE
world. sse h2s now besr SAFELY launches,
and ttis fsf1 has been made TIE occ4~
sion "a much Interesting cisc1ssson 10
the English p.per- IS 70 The svslis1slify
an6 utility N their monster floating ciss-
del. syfne points Of which viii pfoTe OF
interest.
The frs OF these 10 her sire and zrraa-
ment. The IEFsxs1k xilI CARY il turrsts
four eigbtg -one-toB gums. These turress
.yils be rnDseesed By eigbteeD-ipeh arnoy,
and The citadel ~ the snip by twenty -fo1r-
inch piasing. The citadel 10 twelve fest
high, seyeDsg. five feea broad. and 10 fest
iopg. ard inelDses tie engines and boilers,
The base ~ The tarrtss, the hydraulic gear,
and the magazines n The sh5p. The
walls are fyrty~Une inches thick, made %
plates from sixteen " fvensy-.Ou inches
thick, with teak b&e9eer and bebiad
them. The ship extends eighteen feef be-
i0x the citadel and iD5 fe91 baf0Fe aod 5s-
hind il, these portions being uillized "a
floating The central citadel. ~ the use
az hydraulic pOxeY she eigfIiy-one-t0n
- The thirty. CLIFTON guns on the other
English vessels. Her displacement. with
all her weight on bo-fd, will be no Ices
than II ~ Dns. 70 much for her size
and power.
Ia il41 construction u The IEa<xEjs<
there has been q wide divergence from the
methods employed in tbe earlier iron
eiads. Those were long and narrow, N
a. ~. &azsx4
built were considerably broadeneG In
beam. The Tnfextbk Is almost oval.
shorter and broader sill, her beam being
nearly one-f0arth ~ her length, and she
f. divided into three equal parts, The cen.
traI part alone being armed, the four guns
firing in every direction from The two
diagonal turrefs. The Russian vessels Of
the pOp0fska patterns are almost circslzr I:
likewise the new vessels Eseing constructed
for the Italian Government 10 the CasteL
mare shiD-ysads II IL very evident, ia
fact, thai Il the size Of the plating and
power N ornaments are 10 keep on In
t,reasing. the circular form must be event
ualjy adopted. after which IL becomes an
interesting question how much further d.
uensi0Ds and armament can he increased
without sinking TIE vessel There must
be Limitation somewhere, and, in the
presen: rapid Development N ship.build-
ing. IL l. evident that the maximum viii
soon be reached How rapidly that de
yelopmeBf Is taking place ~ shown
that before this monster 10 fairly
ah0a, the builders are al work
upon two monsters still more fOrfDida.
bic for the Italian Government. These
are the Uanllpb2 and the DusLso They
will Gerry four ZOE guns instead NJ eighty.
OneiOn guns, and their turrcis will be
protected by iwenty-tsO1nch amor ia.
stead Of eighteen inch. Worse than this
for English pride, the power Vt ordnance
IL increasing also--a Krupp gun, a few
months ago, having pierced a target rep.
TesentiDg the citadel Of The Infteg,bte at a
dinance ~ d mile. The London Timer
In drawing contrast between the Inf1gt.
Js aud coast deienges, shows, however,
that she IL "a faf more powerful fertilization
than the whole island Of Malta, with all
it's fortifcattOns and naturally defensive
situation. The new KTBpp guns are not
the only dangers 10 which the fntt1ztbte Is
liable. The torpedo threatens her, since
IL In impossible ~ protect every part Of the
ship and keep her aiioat, especially tbOse
portions below The watcr.liDc fhc ram
IN another danger; but ~ offset these IL IL
proposed 10 dght them with rams and tor.
pedoeS that is surround the IDtte1tbt,
with tlptilla of rams and torpedo.boats
thus making her floating fort surrounded
by outlying fOrtillcatiOBs, ~ on Land q
central fort h protected by outlying earth.
works.
The existence Of such monster as the
InitegibLe and her Italian companions, the
Uo1.ooio and Dutit0, h not very pleasant
to contemplate in case If war between
these powers and our own country. The
JnttsJtbLe, NJ n distance Of two miles from
New York, would hold the city III ~
mercy, throwing its | 100. pound bolts, IN
big 40 0Id.fhhiOned Dutch ovens, while
our shore Notifications peppered away ri
her with bird shot. Her afmOr being i'm,
peryi0us Ia our projcctiles, she could defy
all Of our Qualifications, and make short
work of New York City To rush into d
competition with the European powers,
however, in the matter Of ship building
would be folly. All we have 10 do Ii %
let them work away till they reach the
maximum, and then build from the best
models While the English, French,
Germans, l,ussiBns and Italians are ex-
perimentiBg and spending millions OF
money upon their experiments, we must
look 10 inc bpesh ol our Vtfssis anu Va Inc
power Oi our guns, making the latter
equal 10 the best Then we have the
ready reply 10 these floating monsters.
Hundred. ton guns IN forts on shore are
just M serviccable as l00ton guns in
floating forts. our coast deieDscs are the
vital points. We have no colonicsiO pro-
tect, and 40 necessity, therefore, Of wag'
ing external wars All we have IN do II
to provide guns Of equal calibcr and power
behind csrtiworks with which 10 protec,
our harbors - Ohtcngo Tribune.