TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 235 



taMng these colossal experiments will be understood when I say that a committee 

 of eminent private shipbuilders, including Mr. Scott Russell, Mr. Laird, Mr. 

 Samuda, and Mr. R. Napier, have estimated that a target large enough to try 

 half-a-dozen modes of construction would cost no less a sum than £45,000, and 

 that another £45,000 would have to be expended upon an ii-on hull capable of 

 floating this target, if the use of such a hull were considered indispensable. 



But, however imprepared the Admiralty may still be, they have been compelled 

 by the public sentiment, and by the power of Parliament, to make large additions 

 to oiu- iron-cased fleet during the last few months. When the House of Commons 

 devotes unmense sums of money to a national object with acclamations, and the 

 single opponent of the measure acknowledges himself in en'or, the time for ques- 

 tioning and parleying upon points of detail is passed. And this is what has 

 happened in this iron-cased ship business. The Government has declared a 

 number of new ships necessary ; Parliament has voted the requisite funds with 

 unanimity and cheers ; Mr. Lindsay has confessed himself in error ; and the Board 

 of Admiralty have been instructed to build the ships with all possible despatch. Let 

 us now see what kind of ships they are to be. 



The first of them, the 'Achilles," which has recently been begun in Chatham 

 Dockyard, so nearly resembles the 'Warrior' and 'Black Prince' that a very few 

 words will suffice for her. The chief difference between her and those vessels lies, 

 I believe, in the fact that her beam is slightly broader, and her floor somewhat 

 flatter, than her predecessors, whereby her tonnage is increased from 6039 to 

 6089 tons, and her displacement from 8625 to 90.30 tons. All her other dimensions, 

 and all her essential featm-es of construction, are exactly lilie those of the 'Wanior,' 

 — from which it may be inferred that the method of plating the central part only of 

 the ship, which was introduced by your distinguished Vice-President, Mr. Scott 

 Russell, is still viewed with favom- by the Admiralty designers. Mr. Scott Rvissell 

 did not patent this invention, I believe ; perhaps he will kindly tell us whether he 

 has found his rejection of the Patent Law to pay him well in this instance. 



In the class of ships which come next, however, the Admiralty have consented 

 to forego the plan of plating amidships only, and purpose plating the ship from 

 end to end with thick iron. But in order to do this it has been necessary to resort 

 to larger dimensions than the ' Wamor's ;' and hence these six new ships, three of 

 which have just been contracted for, are to be 20 feet longer than her, 15 inches 

 broader, of 582 tons additional biu'den, and 1245 tons additional displacement. As 

 the displacement is the true measure of the ship's actual size below the water, or of 

 her weight, it is evident that the new ships are to be considerably more than 1000 

 tons larger than the 'Warrior' class. As their engines are to be only of the same 

 power, their speed will probably be less*. This diminished speed is one of the 

 penalties which have to be paid for protecting the extremities of the ship with 

 thick plates. Another will probably be a great tendency to plunge and chop in a 

 sea-way. The construction of such vessels is a series of compromises ; and no one 

 can fairly blame the Admiralty for building vessels on various plans, so that their 

 relative merits may be practically tested. 



The cost of this new class of ships will exceed that of the 'Warrior ' class by 

 many thousands of pounds, owing to the increased size. But it will certainly be a 

 noble specimen of a war-ship. A vessel built throughout of iron, 400 feet long 

 and nearly 60 broad, invulnerable from end to end to all shell and to nearly all 

 shot, armed with an abundance of the most powerful ordnance, with ports 9 feet 

 6 inches above the water, and steaming at a speed of, say, 13 knots per hour, will 

 indeed be a formidable engine of war. And, if the present intentions of the 

 Admiralty are carried out, we shall add six such vessels to our Navy during the 

 next year or two. We must be prepared, however, to dispense with all beautifying 

 devices in these ships. Their stems are to be upright, or very nearly so, and 

 without the forward-reaching " knee of the head " which adds so much to the 

 beauty of om- present vessels. Their sterns will also be upright, and left as devoid 

 of adornment as the bows. It should also be stated, as a characteristic feature of 



* Since this paper was read at Manchester, I have learnt that the Controller of the Navy 

 always intended these vessels to have a speed of 14 knots, and will give them sufficiently 

 powerful engines to secure that, if possible. — E. J. R. 



