July 19, 1877] 



NA TURE 



223 



which we have already objected, the ship is in an unsafe 

 condition when judged by the only standards that at 

 present exist for our guidance, viz., those laid down in the 

 Report of the Committee on Designs of 1871. 



We have now almost exhausted all that the Par- 

 liamentary Papers contain on the essential question at 

 issue, but before concluding this part of our subject 

 we must advert to the case of the Devastation. The 

 De7iastaiion, as designed, had an unarmoured forecastle, 

 which extended down to within about a foot of the water's 

 surface, and with this forecastle perfect, she had a range 

 of stability of 43J deg. Mr. Barnaby alleges that with 

 the forecastle perforated, her range of stability would be 

 brought down to 35 deg., and that the maximum angle of 

 stability would be g deg. It seems to us that the curves 

 given show something more and something different to that 

 which the table in the text gives. They show something 

 more, because it is clear on inspecting that one which relates 

 to the Devastation with forecastle perforated, that although 

 the maximum appears to be reached at 9 deg., there is no 

 perceptible diminution in the magnitude of the stability 

 for nearly another 9 deg. The curve seems to be parallel 

 to the base line, from 9 deg. up to 16 or 17 deg., and the 

 state of the Devastation, therefore, is totally different 

 from that which might be expected from the announce- 

 ment in the text, that 9 deg. is the angle of maximum 

 stability. But even allowing all the stability which the 

 Devastation is shown to possess by these curves, we are 

 ourselves disposed to believe that when this ship was 

 altered, the alteration should have been so made as to 

 add to the stability of the ship when the unarmoured bow 

 is perforated. Now the Reports of the Committee 

 on Designs show that the changes made after Mr. Reed 

 left the service were of a kind which, while adding 

 materially to the stability of the ship under ordinary 

 circumstances, burdened her with a large amount of top 

 weight, which, together with the lowering of the armoured 

 freeboard, must have diminished the stability with the 

 bow perforated. In view of this consideration, we 

 should much like to have seen the Devastation's 

 curve of stability as it would now be with the un- 

 armoured bow perforated, for we are disposed to 

 think that the production of that curve would dis- 

 close a much less satisfactory condition of things as 

 regards stability in the Devastation as she now is, than 

 existed at the time of her design ; and, as we have 

 already intimated, this ship appeals to us not to have pos- 

 sessed even at first all the stability desirable. We are aware 

 that the Committee on Designs expressed a contrary 

 opinion, but we doubt if they duly considered the state 

 of the vessel with the forecastle perforated, and we 

 believe that if they had they would probably have looked 

 less complacently upon the change that was made than 

 they actually did. If we are right in this view of the 

 Devastatipti, Mr. Reed must no doubt bear the blame of 

 having cut this ship's stability somewhat finer than it should 

 have been, and all that could be admitted in mitigation of 

 the fact is that which he would probably plead, viz., that 

 this ship was the first great monitor of the kind that had 

 ever been designed ; that calculations of stability at con- 

 siderable angles of inclination had not then come into 

 vogue ; and that he left the service long before the 

 Devastation was completed for sea ; and therefore that 



it was not from his hands that she passed into actual 

 service. 



But it is no part of our business to distribute blame in 

 such matters, and all that we can say on the point is that 

 we are not satisfied even with the Devastation, and that 

 whatever deficiency of stability she might have possessed 

 as originally designed, that deficiency must have been 

 made worse by the modifications which the ship has since 

 undergone. 



We must now say a few words upon the question of the 

 cork, and how far it may really be relied upon for giving 

 to the Inflexible — not a safe measure of stability when the 

 unarmoured ends have ceased to furnish any otherwise, 

 for we have seen that with all the cork in place the stability 

 is still too little for safety— but some sort of chance of 

 escaping that capsizing which must befall her at sea with 

 the cork gone. The great advocate of cork is the present 

 Director of Naval Ordnance, Admiral Boys ; but if the 

 arguments which he sets forth in these printed papers are 

 in truth the foundations on which the hope of the 

 Admiralty is based, their confidence must be very ill- 

 grounded indeed. Admiral Boys is good enough to set 

 forth in a formal manner the reasons which induce him 

 to think the cork can be depended upon. There is one 

 at least to which science at once supplies an answer. 



He mentions " the difficulty of striking a ship at or 

 below the water-line, particularly one of the Inflexible 

 type, that will scarcely ever roll." Scarcely ever roll ! A 

 more astonishing, and may we say a more utterly ground- 

 less remark, was probably never made upon a serious 

 subject. It has been established beyond all question or 

 cavil that one of the most fruitful causes of rolling is great 

 stability, and that mastless ships of great stability will 

 roll more than any other. Now, in her uninjured state, 

 which is the state in which she will enter upon an action, 

 the Inflexible will have very large stability, and may be ex- 

 pected to roll heavily in a seaway. A glance at our engraving 

 this week will show that the length of the righting lever, 

 r. z, is sometimes over three feet, and in one case (with 

 certain stores consumed) nearly four feet, whereas not one 

 of all the typical curves given in our last number gives a 

 G z that much exceeds three feet, while all but one are 

 much below that. It is true that the admission of water 

 at the ends may have a perceptible effect in diminishing 

 the rolling, but it would be premature to presume any 

 great results in this respect. And apart altogether from 

 the rolling of the ship, every seaman, including Admiral 

 Boys, must be well aware that the ends of the steadiest 

 ships in the world get much exposed by the mere falling 

 awayof thewater in a seaway. With regard to Admiral Boys 

 other assumptions they are more out of our province, but we 

 may remark that the enunciation of such views by a high 

 officer of the Admiralty is calculated to fill common minds 

 with astonishment and appre hension. Naval architecture 

 instead of being a complex and difficult branch of science, 

 would be of all arts the most simple and easy, if all that 

 had to be done were to keep safe the under- water parts of 

 ships that never roll ; to encounter projectiles that canno 

 fulfil the object for which they are employed ; and t 

 engage vessels armed in the most suitable manner, and 

 managed in the most suitable way, to let us escape ! 



The conclusions we have arrived at are, that the 

 Inflexible is not a safe ship for battle in her present state 



