146 THE SEA. 



could be seen flying back, splashing- the water at various angles according to the direction 

 in which they came, till they dropped exhausted." 



One of the greatest novelties is the circular ironclad, proposed long ago by Mr. John 

 Elder, in a paper read before the United Service Institution, and carried out by Admiral 

 Popoff, of the Russian navy, who designed one which was afterwards constructed and 

 was christened the Novgorod. She .was 100 feet in diameter, with curved deck, the 

 highest point of which was only five or six feet above the water. She carried two 28-ton 

 guns. Its model might be described as a floating saucer with a comparatively flat covering. 

 It is even asserted that a good speed is attainable with such vessels, and that they are 

 steerable, if hydraulic machinery is employed. Mr. Elder's plan was as follows : When 

 a revolving pilot-house on the vessel turned, a jet of water was ejected in a backward 

 line to the very course proposed to steer. The pilot or steersman having a complete 

 control of the movements of the pilot-house, and a clear look out a-head only arranged 

 to steer in a particular direction, and the water jet propelled the vessel to its destination. 

 Such vessels are fit for nothing better than river or harbour protection. 



The Alexandra, whose batteries we show on the opposite page, is one of the most efficient 

 of our English armour-plated ships. She was built at Chatham, and launched in 1875. She 

 was specially built for speed, and carries the maximum weight of armour consistent with sea- 

 going qualities. She is armed with three guns of twenty-five tons each and nine of eighteen tons. 



A new form of ironclad, destined for coast duty, has also been introduced in Holland 

 and France. These Governments consider that for the defence of a coast-line, fixed land 

 batteries are not sufficient. They have, therefore, adopted a ponderous form of turreted 

 ironclad, which the French term garde-cotes. They are not supposed to be adapted for 

 long sea voyages, as they are veritable floating iron castles, carrying not merely heavy guns, 

 but whole batteries of smaller guns. They have good engine power, and can, therefore, be 

 moved to any part of the coast with ease. 



The cost of ironclads to this country has been very serious. Mr. Reed puts it down 

 at a million sterling a year since their inauguration.* For the eighteen years preceding 

 1876, they cost 16,738,935, and with the cost of wear and tear, repair, and maintenance, 

 not less than 18,000,000. 300,000 was required for repairs and maintenance alone in 

 one year, perhaps an exceptional case. The Warrior, built in the year 1860, cost, to 1876, 

 for maintenance and repair, no less than 124,245, or about a third of her original cost. 

 She is the earliest type of ironclad, and of small tonnage compared with several of her 

 successors. What they may cost to maintain is a still more serious problem. Single iron- 

 clads have cost the country half a million sterling ; the Inflexible, 600,000. 



Connected intimately with the ironclad question is the torpedo movement. From an 

 early date schemes have been devised for injuring an enemy's vessel by submarine 

 apparatus and otherwise than by guns. In the seventeenth century, we find the celebrated 

 Marquis of Worcester describing such apparatus. The ninth of his " Century of 

 Inventions " describes a small engine, portable in one's pocket, which might be carried and 

 fastened on the inside of the ship, and at any appointed time, days or weeks after, at the 

 will of the operator, it should explode and sink that vessel. 



* Vide " Our Ironclad Ships." 



