THE ROYAL SOVEREIGN TURRET SHIP.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 18, 12 July 1864, Page 3

THE ROYAL SOVEREIGN TURRET SHIP.

The-Royal-Sovereignr turret ship, was on j the Bth March tlpated.qut.of:No.-3-Doelc, Portsmouth, "" in the 'pi-escrite of ' a considfcraMe '* nuiiiber of spectators, -chiefly' , nayal . officers. Tho "Royal r S.OYereign l vyas r fprineriy a Hne-of-battle-ship, and 'we "may' attribute Hei* "ti'dnsfoinhatiori to lier presen t forni'to'Mii^. fanid us*. Action'; between!' the Monitor ancl -the .Merrimac, , which .seemed to supply a strong argument in %vbur of Captain Cole's plan of arming ships with heavy ,guns, .protected* by ..CUp'olrisl on tlie upper 'dfcck','ahcV Captain Colds at once became, a. famous .man. The Admiralty, urged by-thellduse of Commons, at last consented to the construction of .a monitor for the British service, and the Royal Sovereign wa3 assigned as the vcsseHipon' which the experiment was to; be tried. She was therefore cut down, so as when cased jvyltlij-iron, to bring her upper .deck within a few feet" of ' the watei'line, ' and io to limit the surface exposed to ah enemy's'' lire. But the ship, as sheas built," exhibits a material, alteration from the original design." The ' cofpula, or dome, has been dispensed witbjand tlie turret is substitute;!. ' : Those turrets ; (of which there; aro Tour, ip> number, .eftcli armed with ajheavy gun) ;i , are. sunk into the : upper -xleck of the, ship, and arc, made, to revolve on the same principle as a railway turntable, the motive,, powder being within the turret, so that the ' gun nisiy be removed in a lateral- direction to any point of a circle. In each 'turret 'thero is a narrow oval port-lloleior the mimle.\of tha gun to be run out, and this ia but a short distance (perhaps a foot or two) above the surface of the deck, whicli falls- from' tlie centre to the side. The top of the turret is protected by parallel bars of iron, in which there, are th rep circular holes," through any one of which tlie'olliccr of the gun may insert his head to take sight of the object to be fired at, and at the sametinie to -direct the movements of tho men inside. The bulwarks of the ship will be attached at the lower part by hinges, and will fall back- so as to hang over the broadside "when the guns are fired. The turrets being thus sunk, so that the basement rests on the main deck, do not form a conspicuous mark for tho enemy.' They are heavily cased with iron, and aro of such strength that each .weighs no less than 138 tons. The deck, however, is not bomb, proof, consisting only of plates of iron .one inch thick and covered with the usual planks of wood, so that if "a heavy shot were to. fall vertically it is not improbable it would lind its way out of the bottom 'of ' the ship/.' In the interior the cabins arc lofty, but, as a matter of course, not well lighted. A very important invention has, however", 'heen introduced to improve the ventilation. It is a plan designed by Dr. Edmonstone, staff-surgeon of Her Majesty's ship Victory, and consists of air channels running the whole length of the. sliip, andoomiinyueating with the hold, where tlie foul air accumulates, and is carried oil through these tubes into the funnel, instead of permeating the decks to the injury of the health ofthe crew. Itis believed that it will answer perfeitlv, inasmuch as, even when the fires are not lighted tb Increase the draft up the chimney stack, there* is ' a.- considerable current of air upwards through the tubes which communicate with the funnel. The ship under water is coated witli Muntz metal, and to prevent galvanic action a band of vitreous sheathing has been attached for some distance below and above the water line. This sheathing consists of small plates of iron covered with a preparati-m of glass, and is intended .to bo an anti-fonling as well as a protective agent. Contrary to the e\pcclafion of many persons, the displacement caused by the Royal Sovereign when she lloated was found to be rather less than was anticipated, and she now draws, without her out-stores, rigging, or guns, I -S feet forward and 21- teet a ft. Although an unsigh'iv ship on tho .water, and strangely at variance wiih a seaman's notion of what a man-of-war should be, there can be no doubt that the Royal Sovereign is a most formidable vessel for the purpose for whicli she was designed. — European. Times.