154 
THE WORLD’S WARSHIPS. 
A new departure was proclaimed by the laying down of the Admiral 
Duperre, by M. Sabattier, in December, 1876. While we had been 
drawing more and more to reducing the armoured belt to a minimum 
in length and to a maximum in thickness, the French here determined 
to concentrate the armour on the belt, which should again run round 
the ship, and abandon the armoured central battery. Hence their 
mounting the heaviest guns in barbettes, and carrying only light guns 
on their broadsides. The details of this ship is, therefore, well worth 
mastering. 
She is 311 feet in length, 70 feet beam, and 11,000 tons displace¬ 
ment, and was completed in 1883. The belt is one foot six inches 
above the water, and six feet seven inches below, varying from 22 
inches amidships to 10 inches fore and aft. An armoured deck of 
3*15 inches of metal, fits entirely over the belt, flush with its upper 
edge. From this rises four barbettes, two of which project from the 
sides of the ship and afford a means of firing direct from the line of 
keel, the other two are placed in the centre line of the ship on the 
upper deck. These turrets are carried down to the armoured deck, 
and are protected with 12-inch armour. In addition to this the funnel 
and other communications are also protected with circular 12-inch iron. 
This was looked on as important, as it was thought that in a ship like 
our Nelson or Shannon, for example, a projectile making an opening 
in the funnel casing would fill the battery with smoke and make it 
impossible to remain there. No doubt our Welsh coal makes this less 
of a difficulty than with other nations. Here at Gibraltar the difference 
in smoke between foreign and our own war-ships is most marked. 
The armament is one 34 cm 48-ton B.L.B. gun in each barbette. 
They take four minutes to load, but the after one trains the whole 
sweep of its 270° in 32 seconds. There is a 16 cm gun under the top¬ 
gallant forecastle, and 14 14 cm guns mounted on the main deck, 
between the main and mizen masts. The speed and coal endurance is 
about the same as in the last class. As regards general appearance, 
she has a long ram bow with a nearly horizontal bowsprit, a sloping 
stern falling in, with stern walk. She has three military masts, each 
with two fighting tops, the masts being hollow to serve as lifts for 
ammunition. The mainmast is exactly in the centre of the ship, the 
mizen half-way between it and the stern, the foremast much nearer the 
bow. Half-way between these two masts are the side towers, the 
centre two being fore and aft of the mizen. The funnels are two 
abreast, oblong, large and high, close abaft foremost barbette towers. 
There are two conning towers which stand out well, the upper being 
above the side barbettes, the other on the top of what is really an 
armoured room on the main deck just in front of the mizen. 
The sweet simplicity of the first period of ship building has now 
given way to a constant change of design even in the same type. The 
French had thoroughly learnt the lesson they had neglected at first. 
Nor is it surprising after the leap made at one stride to the Admiral 
Duperre, that the two next sister ships varied considerably. 
The Admiral Baudin, although laid down in 1879, was not completed 
till 1888. In size she is very similar to her forbear, only that she can 
