On Ship-building, 357 



placed nearly in the directions of the diagonals of the squares formed by 

 the frames and planking of the ship, — thus resolving the whole into forms 

 incapable of change, and imparting to the mighty and gigantic firame- a de- 

 gree of strength and firmness never before found. , 



The author of the paper has described with great minuteness the lead- 

 ing elements of this important system of mechanical construction, and we 

 regret that our limits will not permit us to detail them ; but we cannot 

 omit adverting, though but briefly, to the great inaproveipent of Seppings 

 in making the timbers originally employed for sloops of war appHcable for 

 frigates, and the timbers for frigates to ships of the line ; thus proving sa- 

 tisfactorily, that a well combined number of small timbers may be equal, 

 if not superior in strength, to the overgrown and frequently grain cut ma- 

 terials formerly employed in our large ships of war. No one more than 

 Seppings has more successfully employed the admirable maxim of the late 

 lamented Tredgold, " that a just economy of materials should be one of the 

 first objects of the builder's attention, and this desirable end is to be obtain- 

 ed only- by judicious combinations of the materials to be used." 



On the question of the sterns of vessels, — a fertile subject of debate among 

 our noble and gallant seamen, some excellent observations are added by the 

 author of the paper. We wish, however, he had attended to the fighting 

 powers of the bow. Why the stern alone is to have its powers of offence 

 and defence increased, and the bow to remain tlie same, we confess we can 

 see no reason for. In truth, from our rivals on the ocean having adopted 

 our improvements in the stern, the strength of our bows is virtually dimi- 

 nished. An increment to the power of the stern absolutely becomes a dc 

 crement to that of the bow, because our ships, in by far the majority of 

 cases, are the pursuers. But what, we would ask, is the obstacle in the 

 way of strengthening the bow ? We do not mean its mechanical strength, 

 but its capabiUties of fighting. Why is so much eloquence and ingenuity 

 bestowed upon the stern alone } Why are we to be tormented everlast- 

 ingly with dissertations upon its increased strength, the absence of a point 

 of impunity, and the power it possesses of having a gun to bear every 

 where round the circuit of the stern ? The absence of all attempts on the 

 strengthening of the bow is a defect in the paper. An attempt, indeed, 

 has been lately made by a Mr Blake at Portsmouth, to improve the fight- 

 ing powers of the bow, and we hear that the experiment is to be tried on 

 the Vindictive ; but, from what we have seen of the plan, we are not very 

 sanguine as to the result. A wide area of improvement is therefore open, 

 and we shall rejoice to see it entered by some one. It is an improvement 

 also, which will be found much more m unison with the active feelings of 

 our seamen than the change — a beneficial one unquestionably, which the 

 stern has undergone. Let us not, however, be misunderstood. We are 

 highly pleased with the later alterations Sir Robert Seppings has made in 

 the stern, and we admire the eloquence with which Mr Harvey has de- 

 fended them ; but we wish to know v;hy the bow has been abandoned } 

 why its offensive powers have not been increased as well as the stern ? We 

 are persuaded that a very material improvement might be made, and we 

 earnestly hope our naval architects will not lose sight of it. 



