POPOFFKAS, OP CIRCULAR IRONCLADS. 
273 
system, and launched in 1870. She is armed with 18-ton guns, 
and protected with 9-inch armour. 
Let us take first the Hercules , at her full speed of between 
14 and 15 knots, and compare her with the Novgorod : — 
Weight of armour and guns protected 
Indicated horse-power at full speed 
Proportion of power to weight driven 
Full speed obtained .... 
Novgorod 
. 806 tons 
. 2,270 
. 2-8 to 1 
. 8| knots 
Hercules 
1,534 tons 
8,529 
5-5 to 1 
14’691 knots 
Here, if we were to leave the difference of speed out of account, 
it would seem that the proportionate engine-power of the 
Novgorod is only half that which is given to the Hercules , 
whereas really the proportion lies the other way, and the 
Popoffka has to employ engines relatively more powerful than 
those of the Hercules to obtain a much lower speed. This will 
be clear from a comparison with the Hercules going at a little 
more than 12 knots an hour, the first real comparison that we 
have had yet, for here is something like equality in at least 
one of the elements : — 
Novgorod Hercules 
Weight of armour and guns protected 
Indicated horse-power 
Proportion of power to weight driven 
Speed obtained . . ♦ 
. 806 tons 1,534 tons 
. 2,270 4,045 
. 2*8 to 1 2*6 to 1 
. 8^ knots 12T23 knots 
So that with a lower proportion of engine-power the Hercules 
obtains a speed more than 3J knots higher than the full speed 
of the Novgorod. This, we think, clearly shows the fallacy 
of Mr. Reed’s argument, drawn from the indicated horse- 
power at full speed of three of our oldest ironclads. We 
believe that these statistics of the performances of the engines of 
the Hercules at 12 and 14^ knots as compared with those of the 
Novgorod at 8^ knots, prove incontestably 4 4 that the circular 
ironclads have started with a much ” greater “ proportion of 
steam-power to citadel armour and guns than has usually been 
given to ironclads,” the point which Mr. Reed endeavoured to 
disprove at the Royal United Service Institution on Feb. 4. 
We arrive, then, at these conclusions. The Popoffkas, on 
account of their low rate of speed and small coal-carrying 
power, are necessarily adapted only for coast defence, and 
operations within very restricted distances from a port of 
departure. They can neither escape from, overtake, nor 
manoeuvre against an enemy who has a high speed at his 
disposal. They have engines much more powerful than those 
given to ships built in the ordinary way, and a high speed can- 
not be given to them without an enormous increase of engine- 
VOL. XV. NO. LX. T 
