C. D. Young

“ But the present moment is one in which she is temporarily superseded in the public curiosity, and the vessel which is the observed of all observers is indebted for the attention which she excites, not to her gracefulness of outline or beauty of proportion, for even her architect and her captain, in spite of the professional pride they naturally take in her, confess her to be the very ugliest craft that has ever yet floated on the waters, nor to any excellence as a sea-boat which she is expected to exhibit, for she is neither supposed nor intended to be able to go out of sight of our own shores ”

“ Each gun is but just clear of the deck, and, except in action, is nearly concealed from the sight of anyone outside the vessel by an iron bulwark about 3 feet high, made in compartments resting on hinges and secured by pins, the withdrawal of which—an operation that can be performed in a few seconds—leaves the gun a clear space in front for its fire. The position of the gun in the centre, coupled with that raising of the deck which has already been mentioned, enables it to be depressed so low as to strike the water at a distance of only 23 yards from the ship. ”

“ The attainment of the second, at least until it is defeated by the production of guns so large as to crush through any armour under which a ship can float, is proved by the details which have been given above of the composition of her sides and her turrets, to be so far perfect as to be equal in every respect to that of any ship yet launched or designed, and to be superior to that of any except vessels of the Minotaur class, the only ones which carry plates of the same thickness, 51⁄2-inch, those of the Warrior class, the Royal Oak class, and the Achilles being all alike 41⁄2-inch. ”

“ Whatever may be the size to which guns may eventually be carried, none can be made so large or so heavy that, if we believe Captain Coles, a turret ship cannot receive and work them, while it is not clear that our gun makers have not already produced pieces too large to be placed at the side of a ship: at all events it is certain that even on board the Minotaur, a ship exceeding the Royal Sovereign in size by nearly 3000 tons, it is not contemplated to place any gun of more than 1lOlbs. ”

“ While in the very roughest weather the turrets and guns have been found to work admirably; nor, though nearly two hundred rounds have been fired in every variety of weather and sea, has a single breeching been carried away, nor (a thing which might easily have happened when the heaviest guns ever yet put on board a ship were being worked on a wholly novel plan) has the most trifling hurt been sustained by a single man.
The chief objects then which Captain Coles proposed to himself and promised to his countrymen,—greater rapidity and accuracy in shooting ”

“ In fact, the effect of shot is now so clearly ascertained to increase in almost geometrical progression according to its calibre, that a single 300-pounder will probably disable a hostile ship more than twenty guns of a third of that size, just as one lion would be more formidable to a herd of oxen than a score of cats. ”

“ Such a captain cannot have a bad crew; and the perfect state of discipline to which he has brought them cannot perhaps be better described than by saying that they can clear their ship for action, let fall the bulwarks, train the guns to any point required, load and discharge them all in less than five minutes, and that afterwards, two minutes and fifty seconds is all the time they require to repeat the broadside, so that they can fire 21 broadsides in less than an hour ”

“ The captain himself is a remarkable man, who has seen more service than perhaps any officer of his standing, who on all occasions has displayed the most brilliant professional skill and courage, and who combines with them no ordinary degree of scientific knowledge and acuteness as well as of literary attainment. ”

“ The casualties occurring among the gunners of the French floating batteries at Kinburn, several of whom were killed or wounded by shot which entered the portholes of the gun which they were serving, pointed out to him further the great need which existed of some new plan for the protection of that important portion of the crew, who, while a gun scarcely more than a foot in diameter required a porthole of at least 13 square feet for its training, were necessarily exposed to great danger. ”

“ Her deck too, which, as being originally the lower deck of a three-decker, is of an unusual width, not less than 63 feet, and also unusually arched, so as to give a rise in the centre of 18 inches, has an underclothing of inch iron; and, rising out of it along the centre, are four circular turrets, which contain the ship’s offensive power. They too are as solid as the sides of the ship; but in them we perceive small oval openings, one in each of the three sternmost, and two in the foremost, each of which is almost filled up with the muzzle of a huge 300-pounder Armstrong gun ”

“ The perpendicular depression of the gun, or its elevation, which by the arrangement of the carriage can be carried as high as 35 degrees, is of course effected by moving the gun itself, but the lateral training, which in the central turrets amounts to about 60 degrees each way, making an arc of 120 degrees, and which in those at the bow and stern, from their having nothing on one side of them, is much greater, is effected by revolutions given to the turrets themselves. ”

“ The men who fight the gun have ample standing room in the turret, which, when it is desired to train it in any direction, is moved by a double set of winches, outside and inside, which, in the case of the smaller turrets, can be worked by as few as four men, though there is room for double that number if required. ”

“ It was hit by 44 shot, which not only failed to penetrate it at any point, but utterly failed also to destroy, or even in the least to diminish the ease and rapidity with which it worked round. So utterly, indeed, that the men employed at it declared (we should think with some slight exaggeration) that the pounding it had received had made it work, “if anything, rather better.” ”

“ Her sides too project no threatening muzzles from rows of great square openings, but present one solid unbroken wall, which, on inquiry, we learn is composed of 18 inches of timber, protected on the outside by solid plates of 51⁄2 inches of wrought iron, and coated on the inside also with a stout iron skin. ”