84 THE SEA 



worry the enemy, who would not know what next would appear, or what new form turn 

 up. Mr. Reed puts the matter in a nutshell; although it must be seen that, among 

 first-class powers with first-class fleets, the argument cuts both ways. " In the old days/' 

 says he, " when actions had to be fought under sail, and when ships of a class were in 

 the main alike, the limits within which the arts, the resources, and the audacities of the 

 navy were restricted were really very narrow ; and yet how brilliant were its achievements ! 

 I cannot but believe that, if the English ironclad fleet were now to be engaged in a general 

 action with an enemy's fleet, the very variety of our ships those very improvements 

 which have occasioned that variety would be at once the cause of the greatest possible 

 embarrassment to the enemy, and the means of the most vigorous and diversified attack 

 upon the hostile fleet. This is peculiarly true of all those varieties which result from 

 increase in handiness, in bow-fire, in height of port, and so forth ; and unless I have mis-read 



SECTION OF A FIIIST-CLASS MAN-OF-WAR. 



our naval history, and misappreciate the character of our naval officers of the present day, 

 the nation will, in the day of trial, obtain the full benefit of these advantages." 



It needs no argument to convince the reader that the aim of a naval architect should 

 be to combine in the best manner available, strength and lightness. The dimensions and 

 outside form of the ship in great part determine her displacement; and her capacity to 

 carry weights depends largely on the actual weight of her own hull ; while the room within 

 partly depends on the thinness or thickness of her walls. Now, we have seen that 

 in wooden ships the hull weighs more than in iron ships of equal size ; and it will be 

 apparent that what is gained in the latter case can be applied to carrying so much the 

 more iron armour. Hence, distinguished authorities do not believe in the wood-built ship 

 carrying heavy armour, nearly so much as in the ironclad, iron-built ship.* The durability 



* Large merchant-vessels have been constructed of steel, which is stronger than iron, weight for weight ; and 

 consequently, in building vessels of equal strength, a less weight and thickness is required. It is said, that if the 

 large Atlantic steamers of 3,500 tons and upwards were built of steel, instead of iron, their displacement in the water 

 would be one-sixth less, and their carrying capacity double. A steel troop-ship, accommodating about 1,000 persons 



