SMALL IRONCLADS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Issue 47, 24 August 1878, Page 4

SMALL IRONCLADS.

>.v • ".I .!,■. ..-le ill' ii-i.il t'i«-l-i ='l =l* .1 ' .vi'.i :'.. V -lis V.TI vi.'W t - iinvf Liio "■' '..' '■■ IV 11 !) '■: •';•' -IV j .••■'.»■ I'llliiie.l. it is imji issibie to i■. ... •■! :•■ the iirij oi'Ciince of pr -villi ig tlw Heel with 'i nuiu'uer ufsmall handy ,'esscls, |i iwiv L'u 'v ?.r;iied. and onnstructed for run m.. [) i ~ has. Taere is ove-'y ivason to supp >se tii it! ntiire w.'i to a large extent depend upon th« pjwer ■-I the ram, an I in tilt! fa-il.ly ivitii which ii ship cuu be man uivred. The greal »li H ulty which semis to lie in the way of getting these small handy vessels arises from the margin which appeal's to have been laid down by naval architects that a ship must always carry armour-plating thick, enough to protect it from guns as powerful as those with which she is armed. Now, considering that a ship's guns arc not used against her own sides, there seems to be no valid reason for lay-

ing down such a principle as this. In actual war a vessel does not always have the opportunity of choosing her antagonist, and it. is not unreasonable to suppose that many of our ironclads, carrying thirty-live or even eighty-ton guns, will occasionally be matched against their equals ; but it will happen not less fre'liiently that they will be encountered by smaller vessols, or it may be even by unavmoured rains, when their onormous armour-plates will bo far more than sufficient to keep out tho enemy's shot and shell, aud all the surplus strength, and the additional mzo which this additional weight requires will bo so much useless liiiiilior, impeding their movements and exposing them to the greater risk of attack by collision. It is to be hoped that these considerations will have due weight in future designs, for it must be remembered, also, that if the sraallor ironclads that wo suggest should bo attaoked by a powerful antagonist, carrying guns equal or even suporiorto her own guns, that is, capable of penetrating her sides—the will nave her ram to fight with, an I reducedsuse will enablo her to he handle I with more terrible effect against thi on>» uy, and will far more tlum compensate for tho reduced thickness of her armour.