Year: 1878

WAcIesaUOuSS u TIE AIcuNAOuSuC turIeC
vessel, the most powerful addition that
ing the present year. There is busy
crew of GOO men on board at this mo-


ment, but instead of blue jackets they
are grimy filters and carpenters pre-
pairing the vessel, in all haste, for sea.
AS the Thunderer, now lying under
shadow almost of the green trees of
Osborne point, as guardshipin ordinary
to her Majesty, is at present the most
heavily armed and armOred ship in
the world, SD the Dreadnought will be
three months hence. Her big IS ton
guns are on board, and her engines
of 5000 horse-power-have been tried
and approved all that has to be done
is the fitting up of the decks for the
reception of officers and men, and the
completion of some minor points con-
nected with her armament. Engineers,
gunner, boatswain and carpenter are
all appointed, and Capt. Moss, the
officer now in command, will remain
ship is commissioned.


The eDreadnought may we'll be termed
an improved Thunderer. Her armor
is thicker and there is more of it ; in
some parts of the vessel-the turrets
for instance-the armor is upward of
fifteen inches thick, while there is no
exposed portion of the hull defended
with less than eigh inches of iron. The
four guns of the Dreadnought, again,
have a somewhat larger caliber than
those of the Thunderer, and the shot
and shell 100 pounds heavier; while
the greatest Improvement of all is to
be found in the extra deck with which
the Dreadnought is provided, and
which permits both officers and crew
to see something of the daylight in
their cabins. AS it is, a most elaborate
system of ventilation is necessary to
remove the foul air and send fresh
supplies through the ship, and it is
vessels are limited to One-half the
number carried by our large broadside
battlc.ships, for the machinery below
is SO intricate and extensive that to
the unprofessiOnal visitor it is hard to
sec where lodgings for $50 men are to
be found. The two turrets, as also the
pair of monster guns in each of them,
are moved by machinery of many
different kinds, and as all this is below,
in the middle of the ship, it is easy to
imagine the vast amount of mcchan-
ism to be found in tho dark tween
decks.


The turrets fore and aft are similar.
They are entered from below; some
roomy steps lead into the interior, and
you find yourself in low circular
tower, the center of which is taken up
by two big guns placed parallel to
one another, with a little passage be-
tween. The whole structure reVolves
like a roundabout, and thus tho guns
peeping out of their small ports can be
tn ;,,
out is provided in each turrret, but
there is besides an armored tower of
considerable height, whence the Cap
tain can command Il view on all sides.
In action the whole of the crew is
below, and not a soul upon deck,
which may thus be swept with shot
and shell with impunity. The hurri-
cane decks, superstructure raised in
the center of the vessel, and also the
upper deck, where the berths of the
officers and men are, and which, as
we have said, does not exist on the
Thunderer, are comparatively unarmor-
ed, and therefore could be shot away
without difficulty; but as they are
independent of the fighting capacity
of the ship, any injury to them would
be matter of Indifference to the crew,
who would be safely housed under a
tnISe-lucn IlOOTlnS Oh iron. Inc WhOle
Of the center OF the vessel is, on the
contrary, heavily armoreel, for here
are the ships engines-her very life
since as she moves only by steam, and
turns her turrets and loads her guns
by machinery, any accident to this por
ton ofher hull would mean disaster.


Descending below to the unarmored
living deck, we at once find a striking
difference between the two types OF
ron-clads-the turret and the broad
side. The Dreadnought, strange as it
may appear, is to be fitted as a flag
ship, and the contrast between the ac-
commodation for the Admiral on board
this our new turret-ship and that of
the Alexandria,, the most recent of our
masted tiag-ships, is very marked.
Admiral Hornby, on board the Alex
andria, has a dining-room probably 80
feet long and Is feet or 16 feet high,
with drawing-room lighted by the
stern window of the flagship, still
more spacious. On the Dreadnought,
on the other hand, the flag officer
must fain be content with dark,
cavernous retreat, of irregular shape,
so low that one fears to strike ones
head against the beams. To make
room for the Admiral and his staff,
the officers of the ship are relegated to