THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
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stated, but carrying 24 guns of greater weight than those of the “ Royal Oak " 
class; these are new ships, and they are wholly armour-clad. 
And lastly, there are the smaller converted ships on Mr Reed's plan, viz.: 
the “ Enterprise," (to carry 4 guns,) the “ Research," and the “ Eavorite," 
of the following dimensions: “Enterprise,"* 993 tons, 160 horse-power, 
180 ft. long, and 15 ft. 6 in. draught of water; “Research" 1253 tons, 200 
horse-power,length 195 feet, draught of water 15 feet; “Eavorite," to carry 
10 guns, 2186 tons, 400 horse-power, 225 ft. long, and has a draught aft 
of nearly 22ft. The battery and water line of the “Enterprise" and 
“ Eavorite " are alone protected, but in the “ Research ” the armour reaches 
to the upper deck throughout the length of the ship. In the “Enterprise" 
the battery is about 34 ft. 6 in. long and the protection at the water 
line is for a width of about 4 feet. The guns are placed in the centre 
of the ship, two on each side, and are protected by 4^ inch armour; transverse 
bulkheads are placed at the extremities of the battery (the same as in the 
“Warrior"), as a protection against a raking fire, the battery is decked over; 
the rudder head is also protected by iron, and the exposed upper works are of 
light iron, so as to be incombustible; the transverse bulkheads are pierced 
with ports, so that by shifting the guns from the sides of the ship, a fore and 
aft fire can be obtained when required, and to enable this fire to be used, short 
lengths of the bulwarks are constructed so as to turn down. The object of this 
plan of construction is to enable a small sea-going ship to be protected with 
armour plating in all her vital points—viz. the waterline, the engines and 
magazine, the rudder and the battery, and, thus protected, to be able to 
proceed to any part of the world. A ship of this sort would of course be no 
match for large iron-clads of the “Warrior" class, any more than in old days 
a wooden sloop would have been prudent in attacking a line-of-battle ship ; 
but vessels of this description whether better or worse than turret ships,— 
a point on which I will not venture to give any opinion—are undoubtedly 
more useful than unprotected wooden ships, which, even when much larger, 
would fare badly in an encounter with these partially clad converted sloops. 
Of new wooden ships of the partial armour-clad class now building on 
Mr Reed's plan are the “ Pallas " and “ Vixen," they are of the following 
dimensions:— 
“Pallas," to carry 6 guns (four 6J ton and two 7" B.L. R. guns), 2372 
tons, 600 horse power, 225 ft. long, and 24 ft. draught of water, plated with 
4|-inch iron on 22 inches of wood frame; the plating consists of a belt, 
extending 4 ft. under water, and a square box protecting guns, engines, &c. 
The “Vixen" (the hull of which is composed of wood and iron), is to 
carry 4 guns, and will be of the following dimensions,—tonnage 754, horse 
power 160, length 160 ft., draught of water 10ft. 9 in. 
The only wooden ship on Captain Coles' plan is the (converted t “ Royal 
* Admiral Dacres, the Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Squdaron, thus reports regarding this 
ship .—“ The * Enterprise ’ has only a belt round her water-line and a covering for her battery. She 
steams and sails fairly, and is exceedingly buoyant. She is well ventilated and berths officers and 
men well. Her construction is excellent; her rudder hidden and safe, acts upon the ship remarkably 
well. A lining of wood inside the iron skin is required to obviate inconvenience arising from 
sudden change of temperature.” 
+ Captain Sherard Osborn, who commanded this ship, reported as follows :—“ To recapitulate, I 
