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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
There can, however, be no doubt that one great point in favour of wooden 
ships is the facility thus obtained for coppering, for the fouling of iron ships 
is a most serious disadvantage, and one for which no remedy has yet been 
successfully applied in the navy. 
If wooden ships are to be armour-plated, the Special Committee on 
Iron appear to agree with Mr Samuda in thinking that iron* should be let 
into the wood backing, for in their report on the "Lord Warden” experi¬ 
ment, they record their conviction " of the advantage to be derived from 
horizontal iron stringers, as shown in the f Chalmers 3 and f Belleroplion 9 
targets.” 
From a speech of the Secretary of the Navy it appears that two ships of a 
different construction, to any I have referred to, are in course of building. 
Lord C. Paget states that the sister ship to the “ Belleroplion,” and which is 
to be called the “ Hercules ” will have 
“A thickness at the water-line of 9 in, of iron plating, 10 in. of wood backing, 
1^-in. of double skin of iron inside of that, 22 in. of wood inside of that, and then 
■f- of an inch of iron inner skin. So that she will have a thickness of 11J in. of 
iron and 32 in. of wood, in all, at the water-line. In other respects she will be very 
similar to the “ Belleroplion,” and she will be armed with the newest fashion of 
guns. We propose to build at Pembroke an armour-plated corvette. She will be a 
vessel of about 3000 tons, with a very light draught, or 16 ft., and with twin screws, 
and we propose to make her at the water-line of a thickness of 6 in. of iron and 10 
in. of wood, besides a f in. inner skin of iron. We hope that she will be able to 
carry eight of these 12-ton guns.” 
A section similar in construction to the first of these ships (" Hercules ” 
target) has been tested at Shoeburyness, and has, I believe, given most 
satisfactory results regarding its power of resistance to heavy projectiles. 
No official report of the experiment has yet been published, but Sir William 
Armstrong has stated his belief that this target will be proof against the 
600-pr .; the record will, I hope, eventually be furnished to the Institution 
for publication in the " Proceedings.” 
I shall now make a few remarks on two plans of armour-plating which 
have been tested for land defences. These are Thornycroft bars and Captain 
Inglis*s shield. 
In all parapets, constructed either of masonry or of earth, the weakest spot 
must be the embrasures, and not only is it desirable to give some extra 
strength to the parapet itself at these points, but in these days of accurate 
and heavy fire from large rifled guns, it is of paramount importance, that 
the greatest possible amount of protection should be afforded to the guns 
and detachments in all works. There can be no doubt that in coast batteries 
and sea forts, likely to be exposed to the attack of ships carrying guns of 
large calibre, iron is the material best suited for use, the one drawback to 
this arrangement being expense. 
Captain Hahlgren in his Eeport to the Secretary of the Navy, on the 
subject of coast defences in November 1862, stated that:— 
* Wood sliip-builders object to this arrangement on account of difficulty in ensuring the 
effective caulking of the seams under such circumstances. 
