The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-03-24

| unwnrla OF - 60 railUre and "a VIZ ma
rIueR We need l. Say lhat the III ~ ini
! portant division of the force ID hnaoo up
| of armored ships. Oi these a. tno .
mentioned there were h'ty -e'Sn', ho
which aggr. gate, however, sh"uio ua
ducted three constructed specially ior
colonial defence, end eight cOuslcetea to"
| old or too badly built to put TO sea- ieas
| ing, therefore, net total of iorty se.en
| ironclads. without running through the
| c.t.Inope of names, we may say that this
| list inc udes vessels of all dlmeDsisns, from
the Ipfiexibe, of more than ii ooo tous,
| whose sides are thirty nine lnches th'h'
three. fl fths of which thickness Ia repre-
| sented by iron plates, and which calties
| four cannon, each of eighty one toms
| weight. besides steam eugipes of o,Ooo
horse power, to tn Favorite, the emailest
jronclad under the English flag, whose
| armor is only four inches thick, but Which
| in apy other navy would be formloah'e
craft, having capacity OF more 'h@n
| 3 900 tons, engines OF l,Io horse power,
| and an armament of ten 9-tou guns.
! Such WAS tie state Of things ut the be-
/ Ginning of last year. Let un now see what
progrcns was m ade during the next twelve
month. According TO the programme nnt
| forward 10y the F,rst Lord OF tfe Aah'i
! raIty, e.x nGnclaGs we're to uo hnlsheu
! curing 1877, and all tIo EnaImor"d vesseis
then on the stocks were to be brought
nigh to complexion. 1t "as pro:n'seu,
| moreover, that Il new jronciad oi the nfsc
| class should be bIguG, together WIN
| ram Cc sufliciert power to cope w!tn Ger
| tain redoubtable engines OF va. ea!d to 10
/ hnll6icG ir continental heTbo!s, anu, in
| addition an unarmored cCrvette, /. s'oop,
! and two sailing vcssH!a. in woro, the
Minister undertook that during the Imam
| cial term of 1917 Is the national yards
should add to the fleet more than l4,oVo
tons, willie private contractors were TO
| Nm for ( ,nye account
as much sgain.
| Notwithstanding it's inability to com
pleteiy fulull the above Programme, the
Enyltsh Government has added good deal
TO the verilablo soIdity of its naval force.
Four colossal ironciads we're finished and
cent to sea il 1877, namely, the Thlnderer,
the Dreaduaugut, the Alexandra, and the
Temer3Ire. Ono of these, tho Th"uderGr,
! ought to haze been ready for service much
cartier, bat On The day when it wsn to
make a trial trip one OF lts hoilCTe cXpCned'
cGuriEg al amount NJ damage which 1t re-
uulred siz mun,hs tn repair. BseiCes tEo
| Two engines of 900 horse power WElth
move its sctcH, there 2'o on toaTd thia
} vessel twenty slA other Il rhII cnGlLes, ana
3 p Hydraulic aghiEe for tho mLaaG"rIeIt
4 oi the i.e,Iu, th3 I"H"i1ipG trri"ts, anu
b. other pdi.s Of tIe .piaratIs. rho TGun
! dpror is covt.ed with ilntCa hhout IA
inches :h.,k. aid c.sT!c&- t"Ht Ghnn"a, &C"
l we!rh;Hg - toes is Uus.E epVrt IA "Ai !
to he thirteen Enri hau knott. Be"NdaN
q arm,ret shlrs Of :hn Cnule Character, trr
l Er gl,sh 4 AdW'Talty las lately cou6ttucS"d
e. number of vees7la not plated, an: iur
{ nishud ysltn :. relatively lshS armament
=, but 2psl2H-i to show exceptional iasL
;, CONG qualities. Some G:stlnE Ecished spe'i
. nlists have severely criti2!e"u these er
) perimeuts. ana IT." controversy on the srh
iect - far FROM being epGe... 1t le said, f"i
- instance, that tho new veGseis aTo t0o pow
a | r,,I NJ iDn
" engage With irOuciAde 1t id certain tha
! one OF IA" iiLost tyres, the Shah, was c"n
- ut + ttt+-tii- rHnnnhci
=. the i.iUa at Curing with tie Peruvian shit
:. Huesc,r.
4 In. remarkable ro.ults Obtained by th,
# Russiaus from trrpVH"ua "n the DANUBE
II aud in tho Rack tea Coujd NOT thll K
J. awal.rn the attention Of the EhGtls" AN
. miia!ty. NrLIcIous experiments Law
= hreu made III tho way of mahin5 extreme: !
y light steam vcsseis destined 70 lo1Ge soT
!, pedocs under the flank # armoIca ehlp9
u or TO launch that sptcie Of explosive pro
l. vided with means of automatic movement
10 Essential conditions to the ehlclclency q
!; such craft ere unusual speed aDL recu
~ liar facility Of evolution. Alter Lumerou
q, tests, the English ship wrights have IKE
a. upon q model eighty four feet in lengt
~ and only eleven feet vide. So far but
es single example of the type las been CON
ee p!eted, but this with It's powerful engine
ts has attained speed of nineteen and
on half knots. 1t is reported, moreover, tht
no fifteen others are now on the stocks, an
eyy that the builders have guaranteed mil
eS imum speed of twenty five knots. An
Id. here we may mention curious fact ben
ps ing on tie usefulness of such vessels, al
th demo nstratcd bv recent experiments, nam
to ly, ;hat Where their hulls are pierce
re below tho water line, very little wAt
I'd penctrates, provided the speed bo as hi
Ale as ten knuts. aud almost none If II exec
~ ~ eighteen. We may add that the Admlra!
.sy have lately undertaken ,he construction
18th a Submarine vessel intended 10 tx tc
lls, pedoes under the keel of hostile shipe.
or Naval artillery seems to have made o
to, little progress in 1877. Hitherto, EnR'a
;,Ai has coLteated herself with the Arustro
Ine ,nr guns OF eighty tons, which axe regular
ar t". adopted for tire armament of her i-oncla
can Up to tho present time Italy alone |
die gone little further in this direction, hs
rom Tug furnished some of her arm0red sh
try. with l00 ton cannon. We understA
Win however, That the famous English eNgin