The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-07-16

Telegraph Company, dated las r. NJ.
says the marines Of the iron-clad Mlntoaul
have landed. The American marines oc.
cupy the Great Square, with their head.
quarters in st. Marks building. Captain
Fisher, Of the Infexible, Is In command Of
the force landed. Gatlin and field gun,
have Just been ordered ashore.
| EXPLOSIONS.
OFF ALEXANDRIA, July 15-3 p. NJ
There have been three heavy explosions on
shore since noon.
NOTE ABOUT THE NOTE.
CoNsrANTINoPLE, July 15.-The confer.
ence to-day discussed the terms Of the note
to be addressed to the Porte demanding the
dispatch Of Turkish troops to Egypt.
Tho Test Of the Iron. CIads..
The operations at Alexandria gave the
first opportunity naval men have had to
test the merits OF the improved modern
iron-clad, and prove its superiority when
pittcd against guns mounted ashore in forts
OF approved construction. The lombard.
mcnt was practical trial. The Egyptians
| had, IL Is true, no vessels 10 man9lyre In
opposition, no rams, no torpedoes. Nor
were their works armed with guns of
equal weight with the SI-ton guns
OF the English iron-clad Inncxible.
The work to do was simple. 1t was,
in the main, stand-still fight, and
the iron-clads got the best OF it. The
forts and earthworks Of Arab Pacha were
speedily knocked about his ears, but the
ships came of practically unhurt. The
fact that he used solid shot, and not shells,
probably shows that his main hope was TO
sink the English vessels. That they re-
sisted this fire so well bears witness to the
comparative impregnability of the modern
man-of-war. Most Of the iron-clads were
struck. The lnvincible, a broadside; ship,
having but siX-inch armor, was an
chored during the action of the formi-
dable work Fort Meks, Offering a
fixed and broad target TO the Egypt
ian rifled cannon. The Invincible was
hit often and penetrated six times,
but she is one OF class only partly
protected. The enemy's shot riddled her
unprotected parts, scattering splinters here
and there, but her battery and water-line
were well armored, and eifcctually resisted
serious hurt. She had but six men
wounded. The Penelope, similarly con-
structed, was penetrated five times--but in
no vital part, owing TO the disposition OF
her arm0r-having one gun disabled and
eight men wounded. The InfleXible, by
far the most powerful and best-armored
vessel of the fleet, was hit five times, and
one shot went through her unarmored
parts, killing one man and wounding two
others.
The InfleXible, when she was launched
in 1876, was regarded as the most formida-
BILE engine Of naval warfare in the world,
and still compares favorably with the Dan
dolo and Duilio, the two great Italian IRON
clads, armed with 100-ton guns. She is n
turn-screw tlirret ship, $50 feet long be-
tween perpendicular and 70 feet i'm breadth
at the widest part, being literally rcctan-
gular-armored castle. All the vulnerable
parts of the ship are inclOSed i'm the central
citadel; the remaining sections are simply
designed to float it. This box" 10 feet
by 70, is armored feet inches above the
water-line and feet inches below it. The
plating varies in thickness, but at the most
vital point consists of a inches Of solid
iron, in two coats, each strengthened by
Orders, backed by teak packings IL inches
thick, making a wall Al inches through.
The turrets are placed on either side of
the ship en- echeIOn within the citadel
walls, the fore-turret on the port side, so
that all four guns can be discharged stimuli
taneously in the same direction. The
guns can also be depressed so as to fire
down on the deck OF an enemy alongside.
The turrets, of % feet internal diameter,
are formed OF single thickness OF
armor, Is inches thick, backed with as
much wood and an inner iron skin.
The InfleXible has q crew of about $50
men, but two men can work each OF the
guns. she has speed OF fourteen knots,
but is not a very handy vessel in sea-way.
Her first cost was about S3,000,000. The
lnnexible's eighty-one-ton guns are de-
signed to throw proiectilc weighing LOO
pounds with 350-pound charge OF pow
der. and the vessel carries 40 rounds per
gun. The calibre is IL inches. In the
trials at Shoeburyness, with full charge
of 44j pounds and 1,760-pOund proiectile,
one of these guns gave q velocity at the
muzzle OF 1867 feet per second, showing
that the gun is equal to the destruction OF
a ship with 80 inches OF armor. Its range
is about ten miles.
A surprising report comes that the effect
produced by the InfleXible's eighty-one-
ton guns was not commensurate with their
size. The twenty-fve-ton and twelye-ton
guns are said to have done the best eXecu-
ton.