to be increasing; so that the French no longer retained that pre-eminence which they had so long enjoyed in naval architecture, but we ourselves carried off the palm. Eight ships were repaired and fitted at Chatham for further service in 1858. The new Dock, "No. 2," commenced in October, 1855, was also completed in the same year (1858).* It was opened in October, having thus occupied three years in building. Its dimensions were as follow: A CHAPTER XVI. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE IN REVOLUTION. REVOLUTION was about to take place in our Royal Naval Architecture, far exceeding all the changes that had ever yet occurred. IRON, and after a while iron. and steel, were to supersede the historic British oak, and gradually to drive it from the field.* Its advantages, indeed, were great. While the supply of English oak was exhausted, and we were obliged to rely on foreign countries for such as we required, iron was abundant, and practically inexhaustible, in our own land; it was not liable to that rapid decay to which wood was subject, especially in hot climates; to dryrot, to which it was exposed in moist climates; nor yet to the teredo, which, as we have seen, infests ships built of timber; it was, moreover, less liable than wood to fire, and was eventually found to be lighter structurally when the material was scientifically disposed.† * One formidable objection at first to the use of iron in shipbuilding was its influence on the compass. This, however, was afterwards met in various ways, which are detailed in the Admiralty Manual on the deviations of the compass. "In some of the first iron vessels of the Navy, both armoured and unarmoured," remarks Mr. W. H. White, "the hulls were as heavy as the hulls of wooden ships in proportion to the displacement. Yet as the principles of our construction have become better understood, considerable saving in the weight of hull has been effected simultaneously with an increase in structural strength." So also says Mr. King: "One of the most important advantages of iron ships over those built of wood is the economy effected in the weight of the hull as compared with the size and displacement of the vessel. In former days it was not realized that iron is structurally lighter than wood, but this is now (1880) well understood." Mr. King also observes: "The British Admiralty have abandoned wood shipbuilding for the reason that the requisite strength of hull and endurance of materials composing it could only be obtained by the use of metals." Iron had for some years been employed in mercantile shipbuilding;* and the Birkenhead-the first iron war-steamer, afterward so famous in the history of shipwrecks-had been constructed for the Admiralty by Messrs. Laird, and launched in 1845; but that vessel was not employed in actual warfare, and it was judged necessary to ascertain what would be the effect of shot on ships' sides before orders could properly be given for its use in the construction of battle-ships. Comparative experiments were therefore made at Portsmouth, between 1849 and 1851, on the effects of shot on iron and wood respectively, and resulted greatly to the disparagement of iron, which was found to break up and splinter both shot and target into destructive fragments. The idea of building iron ships for actual warfare was, therefore, for a time given up; and the Birkenhead and the other iron vessels then under construction were employed as troopships, and timber substituted for iron in the upper works of one or two which were completed. But in France the plan of the floating batteries-which had done such good service in the Russian War-was kept in view; the Napoleon, a wooden two-decker, was cut down, lengthened, and armour-plated, and this year was completed and named La Gloire. Almost simultaneously, as it would seem, it was found that advancing requirements in our armaments and machinery demanded a length of ship for which wood was an unsatisfactory, and, indeed, an inadequate, material; and the Admiralty appear to have felt that it was necessary to reverse their previous decision, and to resort, after all, to iron. Mr. Scott Russell was therefore taken into consultation, a design for an iron armour-plated war-steamer with 4-inch armour from the upper deck to the water-line (to be called the Warrior) prepared by Mr. Isaac Watts, the Chief Constructor of the Navy, and an order given to the Thames Iron Shipbuilding Company to construct her. It was a great departure. Iron, it was said, was costly, and its quality variable; it was also more liable than wood to fatal "In 1830 the proposition to substitute iron for wood in the ribs and planking of ships was treated with public derision; yet, strangely enough, at that very time the construction of the Great Britain, iron ship, was commenced.... THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT BRITAIN MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON SHIPBUILDING PERIOD."- King. damage from grounding on a hard bed from settling upon or being struck by the fluke of an anchor-and afterwards from the ram or the torpedo. But it was felt that the cost, whatever that might be, must be met; and that some means must be devised of protecting the bottoms. This was found in a double bottom (the inner of which might remain sound if the outer were injured); a plan that, though only partially carried out in the Warrior, developed into a complete cellular double bottom in the Bellerophon. We have spoken of the introduction of the Screw. 1848, as we learn from a Parliamentary Paper, the Royal Navy did not possess a single line of battle ship propelled by a screw. One block ship completed, and two others in preparation, were the only representatives of the line of battle force of Great Britain at that time to which the screw had been applied. But on the 1st April, 1859, 37 line of battle ships, 6 block ships, 2 frigates of the firstclass, 4 of the second, 10 first-class corvettes, 26 sloops, 14 gunboats, 4 mortar-frigates, and 1 iron-plated floating battery, propelled by screws, had been added to the British Navy by the various Dockyards; and the work upon others. had been so far advanced as within a year from that date to swell the number of line of battle ships to 50, and that of frigates to 28. The Dockyards had also built during that time 5 paddle-wheel frigates and 2 paddle-wheel yachts. Ten sailing frigates had been completed (chiefly before 1852). * The system of framing in armoured ships is chiefly characterized by the adoption of an inner and an outer bottom, continuous longitudinal frames and short transverse brackets, the whole being connected by angle irons. Mr. King, United States Navy, says: "The space between the two bottoms (4 feet amidships) is roomy, and easy of access for cleaning and painting, operations essential to the preservation of an iron structure. Facilities are also afforded by these arrangements for letting in water between the bottoms to regulate the trim of the vessel. Provision is made to pump out any compartment required, the space being in several divisions. In addition to the strength and safety proceeding from these numerous watertight cells between the two bottoms, great increased strength is gained by the employment of a heavy longitudinal bulkhead through the centre of the ship, commencing at 40 feet aft of the stem, and extending to within 40 feet of the stern. Besides the wing passages, bulkheads on either side form longitudinal divisions of the hold, while advantage is taken of transverse bulkheads to form subdivisions for the magazines, shell-rooms, chain-lockers, shaft-passages, and passages between the engines and boilers." The preparation of ships for sea, etc., had been going on, on a scale equally gigantic; and not only had all these screw ships been fitted, but nine-tenths of them were commissioned, and many had been actually employed in hostilities. A large sailing navy was also in commission, represented by a tonnage of 1,201,401 tons; 185 vessels built by contract, 4 of which were large corvettes, and 7 of this number iron-plated floating batteries, had been fitted out in Her Majesty's Dockyards; and a number of mortar vessels, 6 large troopships, 4 store-ships, 6 surveying-ships, and 1 yacht, representing an aggregate tonnage of 5,495,282 tons, showed the magnitude of the work done under the head of fitting, refitting, etc., by the Officers and men of our Naval Yards, at an expenditure during the eleven years of less than £14,000,000. It may be added, with regard to our Armaments, that rifled guns began this year to be introduced into the Navy. Men After a ship had been built and furnished with its armament, it had to be manned. Here was our supreme difficulty, even in time of peace. Impressment was no longer available; and prisons could not now, as of old, be resorted to. joined a ship on her being commissioned, nominally for five years, but practically, according to immemorial usage, only for the period during which she remained in commission, averaging from three to four years; and when she was paid off, if no other ship was just then commissioned, went their way and were lost sight of. This was a cause of great embarrassment and expense in conducting the ordinary duties of the Naval Service; created uncertainty as to the period when ships might be ready for sea; and became an evil of great magnitude and of serious danger when political considerations suddenly demanded the rapid equipment of her Majesty's ships. In 1859 the Royal Naval Reserve was established by Act of Parliament (22 and 23 Vict., cap. 40), which authorized the engagement of 30,000 men for a period of five years each; and provided that they should be trained for twenty-eight days in every year in the use of guns and small arms, and in naval tactics, either in Her Majesty's ships or on shore at the various depots round the coasts. |