72 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



in mail from stem to stern, to encounter such formidable foes. It 

 has been seen, and every experiment exemplifies the same fact, that 

 the iron ship, with its coat of armor, is of a totally different construc- 

 tion from that of the wooden Avails which for centuries have been the 

 pride and glory of the country. Three-deckers, like the Victory and 

 the Ville de Paris of the last century, would not exist an hour against 

 the sea monsters now coming into use. 



The days of our wooden walls are therefore gone ; and instead of 

 the gallant bearing of a 100-gun ship, with every inch of canvas set, 

 dashing the spray from her bows and careering merrily over the 

 ocean, we shall find in its place a black demon, some five or six hun- 

 dred feet long, stealing along with a black funnel and flag-staff 1 , on 

 her mission of destruction, and scarcely seen above water, excepting 

 only to show a row of teeth on each side, as formidable as the im- 

 mense iron carcass that is floating below. This may, with our 

 present impressions, be considered a perspective of our future na- 

 vies ; a view not encouraging. I have noticed these changes, 

 which are fast approaching, from the conviction that the progress of 

 applied science is not only revolutionizing our habits in the develop- 

 ment of naval constructions, as in every other branch of industry ; 

 but the art of war is undergoing the same changes as the industrial 

 arts, which have so greatly increased our resources in times of peace. 

 It is therefore necessary to prepare for the changes now in progress, 

 and endeavor to effect them on principles calculated not only to 

 insure security, but to place England at the head of constructive art. 

 It is to attain these objects that a long and laborious class of exper- 

 iments have been undertaken by the government, to determine 

 how the future navy of England shall be built; how it should be 

 armed, and under what conditions it can best maintain the supremacy 

 of the seas-. This question does not exclusively confine itself to 

 armor-plated vessels, but also to the construction of ships, which in 

 every case should be strong and powerful enough to contend against 

 either winds and waves, or to battle with the enemy. It is for these 

 reasons that I have ventured to direct attention* to the strength of 

 vessels, and to show that some of our mercantile ships are exceedingly 

 weak, arising probably from causes of a mistaken economy on the 

 one hand, or a deficiency of knowledge, or neglect of first principles, 

 on the other. 



Now it is evident that our future ships of war of the first class must 

 be long and shallow ; moreover, they must contain elements of 

 strength and powers of resistance that do not enter into the con- 

 struction of vessels that are shorter and nearly double the depth. If 

 we take a first-rate ship of the present construction, such as the Duke 

 of Wellington, and compare it with one of the new or forthcoming con- 

 structions carrying the same weight of ordnance, we should require a 

 vessel nearly twice the length, and a little more than half her depth. 

 Let us, for example, suppose the Duke of Wellington to be 340 feet 

 long and GO feet deep, and the new construction 500 feet long and 

 4G feet deep ; we should then have for the resistance of the Duke of 

 Wellington to a transverse strain tending to break her back, 





