The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1876-08-17

combined, that further progress would
hardly be sought. We shall see pres,
emily how far this supposition was cor.
rect: meanwhile it may be well to give
some account of the points of difference
between this famous iron-clad and those
that preceded it.
Towards the close of 1869, the first
lord of the admiralty, with all the pomp
that usually distinguishes such csre.
mony, laid the first keel piece of the
Devastation at Portsmouth. The theory
of very long irOn-clads had gone so much
out Of favor, that the length of the De-
vastatiOn was settled at two hundred and
eighty-fvs feet-mOre than a hundred
feet shorter than some of it's predeces-
sOrs; the breadth sixty-two feet, rather
more than one fifth of the length. It's
disPlacement-that is the weight of the
water which it displaces-exceeds nine
thousand tons; and the steam engines
are capable of working up to six thousand
horsepower. An ugly affair it is, with
out any masts proper, having a mass of
irOnwOrk on deck which would have
puzzled Nelson or Howe beyond measure.
This irOnwork marks the strange changes
which have been made in the arrange
ment of the armament of such vessels.
The earlier irOn-clads were brOadsides,
with horizontal row of big guns peeping
out on each side. Then came the revOlv-
ing turret on fat ship rising but a very
little above the surface Of the water-a
Cheese box on a raft, as some one called
it, with two enormous guns mounted in
in the cheese box After various mod
iiCatiOn and combination of the broad
side and the turret, Mr.. Reed, the chief
constructor for the navy, introduced
something new in the Devastation.
There is a kind of armored wall incIosing
a space in the middle of the upper deck
the space occupies nearly three-fourths
of the length, ard One-halt the breadth |
of the entire area of the deck, and the |
iron wall around it is seven or eight feet |
high. Within this space are two turrets |
or circular towers, and various structures
and gangWays connected with the navi- |
cation of the ship and the accommodation |
of the officers and crew. Each turret |
rotates, not on a central spindle, but on
numerous rollers which work on the |
deck; and each, thirty feet in diameter,
contains two 'WoOlwich Infants of for
midable character. No wonder that the
entire mass has been compared to a raft
with a heavy deck-load in the centre
Upwards of twenty steam-engines are
provided for working the ship in vaious
ways.
We have said little yet about its armor
and armament. When the Devastation
had been few months in hand, the ma
ton was distressed by the loss of the
costly turret-ship Captain, with all hands
Including Captain Coles himself; and
the admiralty caused thorough inves-
tigation to be made into the probable
merits of the different classes of irOn-clad.
The result was favorable to the Devasta
ton, but certain changes of plan were
deemed desirable. When laid down, it
was believed that the armor would resist
the shot OF twenty-fve-tcn gun, the
largest at that time ventured on in any
navy; but improved gunpowder, in
cubes, called 'pebble-pOwder,' had so
the velocity and force of the
shot''as to render greater resisting power
and so the Devastation was
clothed with armor no less than twelve
inches in thickness, carried down five
eet below the water line; the turret
nave armOr averaging thirteen inches
.hick; while the wall or breast work I
sround the inclosed space ON deck is also (
ormed of armOr plates. Compare this ]
With the fve-lnch armor of the once {
mighty Warrior and MinOtaur, and we {
ee what a stride has been nude; no
Wonder that such ship displaees nine
thousand tons of water! Two guns of :
hirty-fve tons were planned for each l
urret; but by introducing hydraulic l
ear for moving the turrets and their /
INTERROGATION gunshave been '
ntroduced-the heaviest adopted down t
0 the time at which we are writing, with c