16 
THE WORLDS WAR-SHIPS. 
line it can resist the shot of, say, all R.M.L. guns below the 12-5-inch 
and the 9-2-inch B.L., except under unusually favourable circumstances. 
She would be easily distinguished from the older ships by her clearly 
marked central battery with its cut out recesses, her single funnel, 
ram-shaped bow, and main and mizen masts placed close together. 
The moral would be, aim at her undefended sides, fore and aft of her 
battery, and three feet above the water's edge, if firing from guns 
unable to pierce her armour. 
A similarly constructed ship is the Penelope, though only half her 
tonnage. The bow and stern guns are here wanting, their work being 
performed by the corner guns of her 8-gun battery. She has, how¬ 
ever, only six inches and five inches of armour, though now furnished 
with twin screws. She possesses the distinction of only drawing 17 
feet of water, and can, therefore, venture into much shallower water 
than any of our other sea-going ironclads. Though furnished with a 
ram, she has not the swan-breasted bow, and would be easily marked 
by her stern window ports, single funnel, and high bow. 
The Sultan is an improved Hercules, with the same thickness of 
armour, but an improved armament owing to an upper battery. Thus 
only the bow guns of the central battery were furnished with recesses 
as in the former ship, the stern fire being delivered from the upper 
battery. She, too, like the Penelope, has no bow or stern battery. 
It is hardly worth while considering her, for if refitted after her recent 
foundering she is likely to be much altered. Her double funnels and 
two tier of guns over the after part of her battery served to distin¬ 
guish her. 
This carries us on the Audacious class. The novel proceeding in 
English building of six similar ships being laid down together being 
now inaugurated. Of these, five yet remain in the service ; the sixth, 
the Vanguard, having been sunk by collision with her sister, the Iron 
Duke. 
The Audacious, Iron Duke, and the Invincible are precisely alike. 
In the first place the central battery has developed into a double tier 
with six guns on the main and four on the upper deck. Secondly, by 
means of an enlargement of the upper works, so as to hang over the 
ship's side, the guns in the armoured citadel or upper tier can fire 
directly ahead or astern, thus doing away with the recessed ports 
which had in turn superseded the small bow and stern batteries. 
Otherwise the belt and central battery, as it is termed, remained 
unaltered. Owing, however, to the diminished size, 6000 instead of 
8700 tons displacement, the armour had to be only eight inches and six 
inches, instead of that on the Hercules. The Triumph and Swiftsure 
were similar, except that the central battery was slightly different and 
they were sheathed in wood and copper. With regard to armament, 
the Triumph now carries 10 9-inch M.L.R., four 5-inch B.L., 16 Q.F., 
and four machine guns. They have all one funnel and ornamental 
large stern ports. Their overhanging citadel serves to distinguish 
them, together with their want of length. 
Before proceeding further with the broadside ships, it will be best 
to turn back a minute to consider the turret vessels. 
