The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1876-08-17
qREAr GUNS AND ABMOR-PLAT7NG

The wooden walls OF old England
are declared to be wholly useless for
naval attacks or defence. Nothing will
now do but vessels coated with thick
iron plates, and carrying guns of enor-
nous dimensions. Very good but here
comes the dilemma. Some other nations
are Just as able and disposed to adopt
these ponderous and costly novelties as
England. And, in point of fact, there is
now going on an extraordinary rivalry as
to who shall have the thickest armor-
plated war-vessels and the biggest en-
gines of destruction. 1t is altogether
a queer struggle, dating from about the
time of the Crimean war, when guns of
large size began to be experimentally
made, before there were suitably strong
ships ready to receive them. Nasmyth's
big gun was the talk of its time; Hors-
falls gun was looked upon as a marvel,
because it could fire ball of two hun
bred and eighty pounds through four
and a quarter inches of iron and Clay's
gun triumphed with a three hundred
pound shot. Then came the beautiful
inventions of Sir Joseph Armstrong and
Sir Joseph Whitworth, carrying the art
OF gun construction tie a degree of per-
lection never before attained. Next
occurred the American civil war, which
startled our admiralty by showing that
no ship whatever, unless thickly jacketed
with plates of iron, could resist the shots
fired by the Monitor class of vessels.
Therefore, we rushed into two expen-
sive adventures at bodybuilding mont
tors armed with a small number of very
heavy guns, and clothing a large num-
Der of our ships, some timber built and
some iron-built, with armor-plates. As,
happily, we have not had to fight any
great navy battle for twenty years, we
could not try our big guns against an
enemys ships; and, therefore, targets
were built up for the shot to bang away
upon. Meanwhile, the navy-yards were
required to construct ships Of war that
would carry the largest guns mechanical
skill could produce, and the thickest
armor-plates that Sheffield could send
forth. So matters have gone on year
after year; ships, guns, shot, aud armor-
plates aiding in the struggle to determine
whether the attacking power can be
made greater than the defensive, or the |
defensive greater than the attacking.
Loud was the jubilatiOn when, after
the construction of several half>clad
ships of the Warrior class, the admi-
rally set ahoat three fully plated iron
cIads Of the Minotaur class, with the
enormous length of four hundred feet.
1t was fOndly believed that no fighting
ships in the world would ever excel these.
Experience showed, however, that such
very long ships are not handy for steer
ing ard turning; and the admiralty
adopted a shorter standard for the
Hercules and BellerophOn. Then came
Captain CowpeI Coles revolving turrets
an which to place the guns, instead of
ranging them brOadside. Then the an
nOunoement by Sheffield firms that, by
rolling instead of hammering, they could
produce armOr-plate tougher and
thicker than any before known. Then
the completion of magnificent arrange
ments at Woolwich whereby the Fraser
guns "a modification of the Armstrong;
could be made of vast size and enormous
strength, on account of being wholly
wrought, not cast. The 'WOOlwich
Infant has become a favorite epithet {
Tor the monster gun of the present day
and most extraordinary sight was {
presented to the car of Russia, when |
he visited our great arsenal in 1874, in /
The Infant School, where were ranged
selection from all the great modern 7
guns that WoOlwieh could show. .
And so matters went on stage by stage G
ships, armOr, guns and shot becOm- L
ag alike larger and more powerful e
Until the mOmentous days of the Devas- il
alton arrived. Men really did think f
hat at length we had arrived at such a n
Itch Of destructive and defensive force