572 



NAVIES OF EUROPE. 



feet in length, and constructed mainly of steel. 

 The first-named two have plates of 14 inches, 

 and mount six guns each, that is, four of 38 tons 

 and two of 25 tons; their indicated horse- 

 power is 4,200, and their displacement 9,600 

 tons. The Amiral Duperre has 12-inch plates, 

 and four 38-ton guns. Next in order come the 

 six new ironclads, the Tempete, Tonneur, Ful- 

 minant, Furieux, Vengeur, and Tonnant, with 

 11^-inch plates, and two 38-ton guns apiece. 

 In all of them horizontal steel armor is used of 

 sufficient strength to make the decks bomb- 

 proof, and the guns are mounted en barbette 

 i. e., on swivels, so as to be aimed in any 

 direction. The horse-power of the first three 

 new ships is 4,200, and the displacement 5,495 

 tons ; in the remaining three the horse-power 

 is 3,800, and the tonnage 4,452. Not much 

 inferior to these nine first-class ironclads are 

 the Kedoutable, 8,658 tons, 6,000 horse-power, 

 six guns, and 9-inch plates ; and the Trident, 



Friedland, and Colbert, which have all 8^-inch 

 plates, are of 8,164 tons burden, and carry 10 

 guns apiece viz., eight of 24 tons and two of 

 12 or 18 tons. The second-class ironclads, 

 now fifteen in number, have all 6-inch plates. 

 The newest carry four 12-ton guns, the older 

 ones have four 7-ton guns and four of 5 tons. 

 The tonnage of all the fifteen ships is the 

 same, 3,445, but the horse-power varies be- 

 tween 3,963 in the new-built Victorieuse and 

 1,987 in the Bayard, Duguesclin, Turenne, and 

 Vauban, also new-built. At the head of the 

 seven coast-guard ironclads stands the In- 

 domptable, of 600 tons, with 10-inch plates, 

 and two 38-ton guns ; the thickness of the 

 armor-plates in the others varies between 9 

 inches and 5 inches. 



The following list, made up from the latest 

 official sources, contains the names and descrip- 

 tion of all the armored vessels in actual service 

 in the French navy : 



The French navy also contains twenty-six of about 1,200 tons, and some sixty -five gun- 



unarmored cruisers of various sizes and mod- boats, with ram bow, wooden hulls, and full 



els, from the 5,350-ton frigates Duquesne and sail-power. The general service fleet consists 



Tourville to the old type of sailing-corvettes of 9 ships-of-the-line, 6 frigates, 21 sloops of 



