Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-29
EnGLA1D's NAVY.
Tho LasI OF lhe Wooden Sbipz-Evoiu'
zion OF the ITOnclad.


It is so long since nearly all that was
picturesque in the men-of-wsr as our
forefatbers knew them melted out of
the thips Of the British navy that even
the most ardent lovers of the old state
" and majestic structures will hear
without concern that the bell has tolled
for the last Of our wooden war ships.
TIE Vulture, a ship carrying three
guns, built at Sheerness about eighteen
wears ego, has been sold out Of the
royal navy as unfit for active service.
She flouiished in peaceful times, and,
whatever adventures the ocean may
have in store for her, il 1t be
still her lot TO sail the seas, her story
az man-of.war is q very bald one.
She was las. employed on the East In
dies station, where she was engaged IN
the suppression Of slavery, and cap
tured several dhows-explOits very
valuable in the interests Of humanity,
but not calculated to procure renown.
Side by side with the announcement OF
the sale Of the Vulture out Of the royal
navy stands the news of the arrival OF
new iron.clsd, the Hero, st Sheer
ness, that her engines may be tried.
Hero is ship Of 6,00o.horse power, OF
6,220 tons displacement, and plated
with amor twelve inches thick. 1t is
interesting in this connection to notice
th.t in the year preceding the battle
Of Trafalgar there was launched
according 10 the naval chronicles OF
those times, the largest man.ot-war
ever built in England, and Of the great
est force. Let her be compared with
the Hero. First Of all, her tonnage
was 400. She had 100 guns, consist
ing of 30. 81, Is, and 9.pounders.
She was 24l feet long and SO feet wide.
She was launched from the Plymouth
dockyard; land" says the chronicler.
sat 5 the crowd all pushed toward the
slip, on which sat the Vulture ready to
start. At $50 she began to shake
as it is termed-and in an instant
moved msjestically along the slip into
the bosom Of the ocean. Con-
trsst this old lins-of-battle ship
with the iron-clads Of to-dsy-the Co
lossuS and Devastation, each Of them
over 1000 tons the Dreadnaught,
hard upon 1000 tons; the Nile and
Trafalgar, which will have to be rsck-
oned a. close upon 10000 tons apiece .
And, above all, contrast the ordnance,
the s2-ton guns with the 32-pounders !.
"All pieces Of artillery" says Fall
coner, the author Of 1.-THE Shipwreck,"
"were formerly distinguished into the
names Of sakers, culverins, cannon,
and demi-cannon but at present their
names are derived from the weight Of
the ball which they discharge thus, q
piece which discharges ball of twenty
four pounds is called 24.poundsr."
1t is amusing to turn from the poets
excellent, but obsolete, dictionary OF
the marine to the columns in that re-
markable publication, "Lloyd's Uni
versal Register" and note the trans
formation in marine artillery by the
l2-ton, the 25-ton, the 6s-ton, the no.
ton guns allotted to the several steel
monsters of which many particulars
are given. 1t is natural to admire the
gigantic, and TO fear it too, for the
reason that it is usually strong, though
it is not always the big gun who
heats in the fight with the little man
and some vast floating castles in olden
times have been captured by very small
ships with British beef to work their
guns with. But in looking at the
amazing figures "Lloyd's Register y
gives, one would like to know how
many more Of such monsters IS the
Hero, which, we read, when completed
for sea, will represent over half mil
lion Of the nations wealth, are to bt
built and sent cruisings There must
be limit to bulk. In the event OF
naval war will our levisthan iron-clad d.
scbieve for the nation the glory tn.
! Eas brought about by the saucy III