) 

 1862.] Mr. W. Fairbairn on the Properties of Irofi. 491 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, May 9, 1862. 



The Duke op Northumberland, K.G. F.R.S. President, 

 in the Ciiair. 



William Fairbairn, Esq. F.R.S. 



On the Properties of Iron, and its Resistance to Projectiles at 

 High Velocities. 



We have no correct record as to the exact time when wrought-iron 

 plates were first employed for the purpose of building vessels. It 

 is, however, certain that iron barges were in use on canals, at the close 

 of the last century. In 1824 Mr. Manley, of Staffordshire, built an iron 

 steam-boat for the navigation of the river Seine, and this was the first 

 iron vessel that attempted a sea voyage. She was navigated from this 

 country to Havre, by the late Admiral Sir Charles Napier, and although 

 constructed for shallow rivers, she nevertheless crossed the channel in 

 perfect safety. From that time to 1830, no attempt was made to build 

 iron vessels, and nothing was done towards ascertaining the properties 

 of iron as a material for ship-building. 



A series of experiments instituted by the Forth and Clyde Canal 

 Company in 1829-30, to ascertain the law of traction of light boats at 

 high velocities on canals led to the application of iron for the con- 

 struction of vessels, and the lightness of these new vessels, combined 

 with their increased strength, suggested the extended application of the 

 material in the construction of vessels of much larger dimensions, and 

 ultimately to those of tiie largest class both in the war and the mercantile 

 navy. Considerable difficulty, however, existed with regard to the 

 navy ; and although the principle of iron construction as applied to 

 merchant vessels and packets was fully established, it was nevertheless 

 considered inapplicable, until of late years, for ships of war. It is true 

 that until the new system of casing the sides of vessels, first introduced 

 by the Emperor of the French in 1854, was established, the iron ship 

 was even more dangerous under fire than one built entirely of wood. 

 Now, however, that thick iron plates are found sufficiently strong, 

 under ordinary circumstances, to resist the action of guns, not exceeding 

 120-pounders, for a considerable length of time, the state of the navy and 

 the minds of our naval officers have entirely changed. We must, there- 

 fore, now look to new conditions, new materials, and an entirely new con- 

 struction, if we are to retain our superiority as mistress of the seas. There 

 yet remain amongst us those wlio contend for the wooden walls, but they 



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