TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 233 



2nd. To state as compactly as possible the principal features of the ships which 

 the Admiralty are building and propose to biuld. 



And 3rdly. To bring to the notice of this Association the great increase of dock 

 accommodation which iron-cased ships have rendered necessary. 



Early in 1859 the Secretary to the Admiralty, the Accountant-General of the 

 Navy, and the Secretary and Chief Clerk to the Treasiuy, together reported to the 

 Government of the day (Lord Derby's) that France was building "four iron-sided 

 ships, of which two were more than half completed," and that these ships were to 

 take the place of line-of-battle ships for the future. " So convinced do naval men 

 seem to be in France of the irresistible qualities of these ships," said these gentle- 

 men, " that they are of opinion that no more ships of the line vnU be laid down." 

 In another part of their Pieport they said, " The present seems a state of transition, 

 as regards naval architecture, inducing the French Government to suspe7id the lay- 

 ing down of new ships of the line altogether." At the instance of Sir John Pakiugton, 

 then First Lord of the Admiraltj', this Report was immediately presented to Par- 

 liament, and thus obtained universal publicity. 



From that time forward, then, we have all known perfectly well what the plans 

 of the French Government in this matter were, and have known equally well that 

 the only mode of keeping pace even with France in the production of iron-cased 

 ships was to lay down four of them to match the four which she at that time pos- 

 sessed, and to build as man}' more annually as she saw fit to add to her navy. 

 In pm'suance of this \evy simple policy, Sir John Pakington at once had designs of 

 a formidable class of iron-cased ships prepared, and ordered the construction of one 

 of these vessels, the 'Warrior.' 



The present Board of Admiralty shortly afterwards succeeded to power, and or- 

 dered a second of these vessels, the ' Black Prince,' and after some delay also issued 

 contracts for the ■' Defence' and 'Resistance.' No other vessel of the kind was actually 

 commenced until the present year ; so that in the beginning of 1861 we had only 

 just attained the position which France held in the beginning of 1859, having ^' four 

 iron-sided ships, of which two were more than half completed." Meantime France 

 had been devoting the bulk of her naval expenditm-e for two whole years to the 

 production of siniUar vessels, and is consequently now in possession of an iron- 

 cased fleet far more considerable and more forward than ours. 



At length, however, our sluggishness has been overcome, and we have set our- 

 selves earnestly to work to repair our past deficiencies. The ' Hector' and ' Valiant' 

 have been laid down, and are being m-ged rapidly forward ; the ' Achilles,' after a 

 year's preparation, has been fairly commenced; the ' Royal Alfred,' the ' Royal Oak,' 

 the ' Caledonia,' the ' Ocean,' and the ' Triumph' are in progress ; and contracts have just 

 been issued for the construction of three out of six other iron-cased ships, the 

 building of which has for some time been decided upon. The peculiar features and 

 propoi-tions of these vessels I shall presently describe ; but I will first state some of 

 the causes which have led to delay in this matter, and set forth the circumstances 

 imder which we have at last been compelled to advance. 



We have heard much in various quarters about the invention of iron-cased ships, 

 the credit of which is usually accorded to his Imperial Majesty Napoleon III., 

 although there are scores of persons, both here and in America, who claim it for 

 themselves. But the truth is, very little invention has been displayed in the French 

 iron-cased ships. Their designers have almost exclusively confined themselves to 

 the very simple process of reducing a wooden line-of-battle ship to the height of a 

 frigate, and replacing the weight thus removed by an iron casing 4^ inches thick 

 placed upon the dwarfed vessel. It was not possible to produce a very efiicient 

 ship by these meaus ; so they have contented themselves, in most cases, with 

 vessels like ' La Gloire,' which carry their ports very near to the water when 

 fully equipped for sea, and are characterized by other imperfections that it would 

 be easy to point out. The reports of her efficiency which have appeared in the 

 French newspapers prove nothing in opposition to what I here state. The writers 

 in those papers have systematically exaggerated the qualities of the French ships 

 for years past, representing that they could steam at impossible speeds, and carry 

 as much fuel as any two of om* ships. But these are statements which can be dis- 

 posed of by scientific calculations of the most elementary kind ; and the imtruth of 

 the French accounts has been so demonstrated over and over again. With the 



