Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-08-19
THE FRENCH NAVY.
strength of the Young Republic ON
the Ocean.

In view OF the present unsettled cOndi-
ION nj affairs on the continent, and the
,,bsIiIfry If a long and bloody war before
he.,.r,r,'irg,ed state of affairs in the East
., a5irs,sd IN the satisfaction Of the Pow
H. following sketch of the maritime
,,r,n,,tb of France, which country will uu-
f0uht div play \ prominent part IN the
cCr,;rc struggle, may not be undressing:
A. the beginning OF this year the French
navy was composed oil t~ehty-three IRON
IL nj the first class, bdtlmCntS de combat;
. ."I - the sacpnd class. available only for
S's,,.;ys warfare. and six OF the third
- 90 G1yrI,y. CU,sS CbirhSScS, for the de.
S Ia ~ The sesbosrd. Tire were also two
T,rlr,3 and sixty -four Itnarmored screw
.,ea,,,, - siyty.tNo paddle steamers and
SO hundred and thirteen sailing vessels.
NJ of these ships, however, were
- 10, Elective ON paper. Thus OF the I'M
o-,.,-eG sr,ew steamers more than half
d - nm active service, being either
.,-;Drs4 M their guns or on the reserve list.
! mi, two Of the - ships OF this class, the
T,,,$s KY. $50 horse power, with ll6guns,
ard lean Bart iDO-hOrse power, win 90
ms were ahoat last year. Again 10 OUT OF
/ Tho frst.Cls,s irOnClads are oil antlquated
/ construction, with plates not exceeding "a
| irrhe, in thickness at the water-llne, aou
/ most II them are TO he Withdrawn from tue
80 liz, IN 1875. ON the other hand six
~, ;-orcIsd, Of the first.claSs, five OF the
',,,',5 and one of the third, have been al
/ ,,..st rrmrleted since January, and
siv more If the different sizes are
/ :, rrrrpSs of construction. OF these the
tn, ..,sr -sma~kahle are the Formidable,
/ T.,,ri.rt and the Admiral Baudin,a at Brest,
/ monster ir0rclads of II 900 tons, and ar,
r,orpE a, the sides with plates OF Is TO %
;rrLas thickness. The three most power
/ ~, If the completed irOncladS OF the French
/ ,,,vy are the turrrt ships Devastation and
/ FoD,iroysnte and the Amiral Duperre.
/ Tlqy We designed nearly on the same
| Ii,.as are 3l2 feet i'm length, and construct
Oh mainly Of steel. The first named two
have plates Of II inches and mount SIX
. INNS each-that Is four of 81 tons and TWO
of - tons: their indicated horsepower IS
. no and their displacement 96OO tons.
The Admiral Duperre has l2-lnch plates
and four &S-tOn guns. Next IN order come
/ The six new ironCladS, the Tempete, Ton
neur. Fulminant, Furieux, Ncngeur and
| Tonpant. with llH inch plates and two is
ton guns apiece. In all OF them horizontal
. steel armour is used of sufficient strength
ro make the decks bomb-prOOf, and the
gupS are mounted ~ barbeits-i. C., on
Svivels, 50 rs to be aimed in any direction.
The Horsepower Of the rStthrec new ships
is 200 and the displacement D 49, tons; IN
the remaining three the horse power Is 3,OOo,
and the Tonnage g. 49,. Not much interior
10 these nine first class ironClads are the
EpGDutable : 49, tons. 6.OOO horsepower,
six gum. and 9iuCh plates and the Trident
Triedlaud and Colbert, which have
an -. inch plates. are "tN l6i tons burden,
and carry ~ guns apiecc-viz., eight OF u
tons, and two OF T. or l. tons. The second
elias, irruCadS. now Il in number, have all
6Inrh plates The newest carry four l2-ton
Guns. the older ones have four 7-tOn guns
and four of Is tons. The TONNAGE OF all the
ID ships j. the same-3,4tj but the horse
rover varies between 2965 in the new
/ m.ilt NirtOriCu>e and ~ in the Bayard
puguesclln. Turenne and Nauban. also
psw-buiIt Vt the head Of the seven
Cuast-gusrd irOnClads stand the lndOmpt-
able. Of GOO tons with l0-iuCh plates and
two %>-ton guns; the thickness Of the
a-mOur-plate> in the others varies between
LinChes and = \ inches. Coming now to
the urarmOred steamers, the most notable
in this section are the frigates DuQueSne
and TourYille, both constructed for high
speed, calculated at Il knots. These are
sister ships, the first launched at RochefOrt
and the second at Toulon, in 1876 They
] are puS leel long anu ~ leeL DIOdu, Win
engines Of 6OOO horse power and adiSplace.
mcnt of $40 tons. Each OF these ships
are armed with p guns, Of which ~ are OF
bore of 81 inches snd seven of 81! inches.
Ii should he mentioned that among the 100
screw steamers which are really available
out of paper total of POI are 81 gunboati
and - transports or troopships; among the
- PADDLE steamers are IL frigateS, seven
cutters and 81 dispatch boats. OF the IL
sailing vessels. the greater number are EN-
plOved a. gGnie-pschsS OH the fisheries neal
the coasts of France.
In addition to the ships above enumerat
ed the following are now on the stocks
The kaiman, at TOulOn; the Terrible, al
Brest, and the Requin, at Bordeaux. Al
these are smaller InheXibleS, but with hXeC
currents, the guns being mounted on swiv
els. They are each of 7.l6S tons displace
ment and are protected at the water lint
by compound armor 30 centimetres thick a
the top and diminishing TO 40 centimetres
The extra credits asked for By Admira
Jaureguiberry will enable him to Complet,
these vessels and also to launch the Bayar,
at Brcst, the Turenne at Lorient, the Vau
ban and Duguesclin at Cherbourg-all fOu
ships OF the AudaCiouS ClaSs-which are no
yet fully equipped.