I′ron-clad Ves′sel.
One having the exposed portion of the hull protected, in whole or in part, by a covering of iron.
At the siege of
Gibraltar in 1782, the
French and
Spaniards employed floating batteries, made by covering the sides of ships with junk, rawhides, and green timber to the thickness of seven feet, and bomb-proofing the decks.
The largest of these vessels was 1,400 tons burden; their armament was 32-pounders, and they were manned by 500 men. They had furnaces for heating shot.
These vessels were finally set on fire by red-hot shot.
In 1813,
Fulton constructed a steam floating-battery for the
United States.
The first application of iron for this purpose was by the
French, during the Crimean war in 1855, to gunboats.
These had a displacement of about 2,000 tons, were 172 feet in length, 43 feet beam, and 17 feet deep, protected by 4 1/2-inch plating, and mounted 16 guns, all of which could be fought on one side.
They were frequently struck by shot, but received no severe injury.
The
English at the same time built gunboats very similar in size and construction.
As far back, however, as 1842,
Mr. Theodore R. Timby had invented an iron-plated turret, adapted either to ships or fortifications.
See monitor; turret.
The civil war of 1861 gave a great impetus to improvements in iron-clad vessels; the success of the monitors inducing the governments of
Europe to engage extensively in the construction of iron — clads, the tendency being constantly to increase the thickness of the armor.
Iron-clad vessels are of the monitor or turret class, carry guns merely in broadside, or have the two systems combined.
The iron-clads employed by the
United States on the
Western rivers during the late civil war were mainly river steamers, the sides above the water-line placed at an
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Wrought-iron bridges. |
angle of about 30°, and plated with 2 to 4 inches of iron, backed with 3 feet of oak. They carried 4 to 16 guns, and some of them were made to float in 2 1/2 feet of water.
They were calculated to fight “bow on,” and were practically invulnerable to 100-pound shot when in this position.
The “
Benton,” “Exsex,” “
Carondelet,” “
Lexington,” and a large number of others, were of this construction.
Toward the latter part of the war a number of monitors were built for service on the
Mississippi.
A class of vessels plated with 3/4-inch iron were jocularly called tin-clads.
Their armor was a protection against rifle-balls, but was easily penetrated by shells from the lightest field-pieces.
Improvised iron-clads, consisting of river steamers plated with
railroad-iron, were used by both parties on the
Mississippi.
They were simply makeshifts, but in some cases were found to be quite formidable.
The “
Galena” was one of the first three sea-going iron-clads built for the United States government, the “Monitor” and “New Ironsides” being the other two.
The “
Galena” was a two-masted vessel, 1,000 tons, 300 horse-power, and pierced for 18 guns.
Her armor was of overlapping corrugated plates, from 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 inches in total thickness, backed by 18 inches of oak and walnut.
In service she was found not to resist shot much heavier than 64 pounds at short range, and she lost many men in her first attack on
Fort Darling.
The “Monitor,”
Ericsson's first iron-clad, was a vessel of about 1,000 tons, 172 feet long, 41 feet beam, 9 feet depth of hold, the deck about 2 feet above the water-line, and overhanging the hull some 6 feet on the sides and 20 feet astern.
Under this “overhang” the screw worked.
The deck, and the sides for 6 feet below the water-line, were plated with five inches of iron, in one-inch plates, breaking joints.
The turret amidships was a round box of iron, built up of inch plates to 20 feet in diameter, 9 inches thick, and 9 feet high, with a grating or covering of railway bars.
It contained two 11-inch guns.
Her defeat of the “
Merrimac” in
Hampton Roads, March 9, 1863, rendered this little craft historic.
She foundered in a storm, off Hatteras, December 31, 1862.
See monitor. See also armorplating, p. 152.
The “Ironsides,” completed at
Philadelphia in 1862, was the only formidable side-gun iron-clad ever put in service in the
United States.
She was 240 feet long, 58 1/2 feet beam, and rated 3,250 tons, 1,600 horse-power. She was plated with solid plates 4 1/2 inches thick, and carried eighteen very heavy guns, sixteen 11-inch guns, and two 200-pounder rifles.
She was found to resist all but the very heaviest shot at the closest range, thus proving the superiority of solid over laminated armor.
She was struck more than 70 times in one day, and several hundred times in all, while serving in front of
Charleston, but was never seriously injured.
She was, unfortunately, burned at the wharf in
Philadelphia, 1865.
The “Dunderberg” is an inclined armor broadside ship, of 7,000 tons displacement.
Her armor consists of 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 forged iron plates, over a timber backing of from one to six feet. She was built in New York by
W. H. Webb,
Esq. The contract prince was $1,400,000. She was sold by permission of Congress to the
Emperor of the
French for $3,000,--000, having cost much more than was anticipated.
The “
Roanoke” is an old
United States wooden ship-of-the-line, cut down to near the water-line, plated with 4 1/2 inches of iron, and has three turrets, 11 inches thick, each carrying two 15-inch guns.
She was only used for harbor defence, being found to roll so much as to be almost unseaworthy.
The “
Merrimac” was a
United States wooden ship-of-the-line, and was set on fire at the
Norfolk Navy Yard when that place was abandoned at the breaking out of the war. The hull was raised by the
Confederates, and a false deck put on, above which an iron-clad fort was built, the sides sloping upward at an angle of about 30°. She carried ten heavy guns, some of them rifled 100-pounders.
Her first engagement, March 8, 1862, showed her to be more than equal to a fleet of wooden vessels, she having sunk the “
Cumberland” and crippled the “Congress” in a few hours.
She was defeated next day by the “Monitor,” and blown up two months later to escape capture.
The “
Atlanta” was an iron vessel cut down, plated with two thicknesses of 2-inch iron plates over heavy wooden backing.
She was captured by the monitor “
Weehawken,” June 17, 1863, having been disabled at the fourth shot from that vessel.
Most British iron-clads are built on the broadside principle, the “
Captain,” built something on the monitor plan, having foundered in a moderate sea, carrying down all on board.
The “Lord Clyde,” said to be the fastest English iron-clad, is 280 feet long, 59 feet beam, 21 feet draft, 4,067 tons burden.
The cylinders of her engines are 116 inches diameter, having 4 feet stroke.
The boilers, nine in number, have brass tubes 2 1/2 inches in diameter, with an aggregate heating surface of 19,000 square feet.
On her trial trip a speed of 13 1/2 knots per hour was attained.
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The “
Hercules,” launched in February, 1868, is 325 feet long, 59 feet beam; tonnage, 5,662; draft, 24 1/2 feet when fully equipped.
Her ram is a solid mass of iron, weighing 5 tons.
She has 5 watertight bulkheads.
The iron plating is from 6 to 9 inches thick, the former thickness extending the entire length of the vessel to several feet below the waterline.
This is backed by 10 inches of teak, 1 1/2 inches of iron, 20 inches more of teak, and 3/4 inch of iron.
The engines, of 1,200 nominal horse-power, are capable of being worked up to 7,000 horse-power. The weight of iron used in construction of the vessel is stated at 9,520,000 pounds; of wood, 1,814,400 pounds.
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Iron-clads. |
The thickness of armor-plating has been greatly increased since its first introduction; thus the “Warrior,” built in 1861, has plating 4 1/2 inches thick, that of the “
Bellerophon” is 6 inches, and that of the “
Hercules,” as already stated, 9 inches. The
French have increased the thickness of their plating to 15 centimetres, about 6 inches; and the “
Marengo” and “Ocean” have plating 20 centimetres, or nearly 9 inches, in thickness.
Plates for experimental purposes have been rolled 15 inches thick, and it is claimed that plates of sound and uniform quality can be rolled 10 inches thick.
To resist the attacks of iron-clads the
British government is erecting at
Spithead two forts, plated with 15-inch iron.
Each fort is 700 feet in circumference, 230 feet in height, and is armed with two tiers of guns, one consisting of twenty-four 600-pounders, and the other of twenty-five 400-pounders.
The two will command the only deep channel leading from the sea to
Portsmouth Harbor.
The estimated cost of each fort is about £ 1,000,000 sterling.
See armor-plating.
Fig. 2703 shows broadside views of a number of English iron-clads, and is introduced to illustrate the modes of arming and of protecting; the shaded portions indicating the partial protection only, afforded in some instances to the battery and engines, and at about the water-line.
a shows the “Warrior” and “Black Prince” class of 6,039 tons.
b, the “
Achilles,” of the same size.
c, the “Defence” and “Resistance,” 3,668 tons.
d, the “
Hector” and “Valiant,” 4,063 tons.
c, the “
Northumberland,” “Minotaur,” and “
Agincourt,” 6,621 tons.
f, the “Prince Consort,” “Royal oak,” “Royal Alfred,” “Ocean triumph,” and “
Caledonia,” 4,045 tons.
g, the “Royal sovereign,” 5-turreted vessel, 3,765 tons.
h, the “Prince Albert,” 6-turreted vessel, 2,529 tons.
i, a two-shield ship of 1,385 tons.
j, the “Enterprise,” 990 tons.
k, the “Favorite,” 2,186 tons.
The lower portion of the figure is a midship section of a British iron-clad ship of 1,385 tons, carrying two of the shields as adapted by
Captain Coles of the
British service.
He was unfortunately drowned in the “
Captain,” which capsized off
Cape Finisterre.
The turret is shown as rotating on a central axis, and a circular system of anti-friction rollers.
The conical portion only of the shield is exposed above deck, and the bulwarks are made hinging, so as to be thrown down when in action.
The ribs, floors, iron-plating, and backing are also clearly shown.
The “Glatton,” a modified monitor on
Captain Coles's plan, was subjected to experimental firing by the
British government to determine whether, by the impact of a 600-pound shot propelled by a 12-inch rifled gun, this turret could be jammed or prevented from working.
There was also to be ascertained the probable damage that might be caused to the guns and other interior fittings of the turret.
The armor-plating of the latter, against which the shot was to be thrown, consisted of, first, one rolled covering of iron fifteen inches in thickness, disposed in two tiers, and secured to the backing and inner skin by bolts.
Behind this armor-plating there is fourteen inches of teak, then an inner skin formed of two 3/4 inch iron plates.
The gun used was one of the 25-ton 12-inch muzzle-loading
Fraser guns, made at the Woolwich Arsenal.
The projectiles selected were the Palliser 600-pound shot, solid and chill-headed, and the powder charge was 85 pounds large pebble.
The vessel carrying the gun, the “Hotspur,” was moored at a distance of 200 yards from and on nearly
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a parallel line with the “Glatton.”
In the turret of the latter, a kid, a rabbit, and a fat hen were placed to try the effects of concussion.
The first shot which struck, took the turret armor in its weakest part, in the center of the turret-wall, upon a bolt-head and upon the lower edge of the upper 14-inch armor-plate.
It lifted the upper plate until its lower edge was separated from the upper edge of the lower plate to a distance of 2 1/2 inches, the upper edge of the lower plate, where the shot penetrated, being depressed nearly one inch by the sheer downward force of the shot.
The fracture extended upward from the plate's lower edge in a three-quarter-circle form, measuring 17 inches vertically and nearly 20 inches along the plate's edge.
Inside the turret, the inner end of the bolt struck by the shot was found to have driven in and fractured the inner skin or iron lining, its nut breaking off and lodging upon one of the trunnions of the starboard gun.
The depth of penetration was 15 inches. Still, with all the immense striking force of the shot, estimated at a little over 6,100 tons, there was no through penetration, and the turret was found to revolve with the same facility as before the shot was fired.
None of the gun fittings or gear were injured in any way. The kid, the rabbit, and the lien looked dazed, but they had sustained no other injury.
The German navy has the following iron-clads: “King William,” 345 feet long, 58 1/2 feet beam, covered with 8-inch iron-plates and 20 inches of elastic wood; it has 23 guns.
“
Prince Frederick Charles,” 282 1/4 feet long, 52 3/4 feet beam, protected by 5 inches of iron and 15 inches of elastic wood cushioning; carries 16 guns.
“Crownprince” is 277 3/4 feet long, 48 1/2 feet beam, covered with 4 1/2 to 5 inches of iron and 10 inches of elastic cushioning; bears 16 guns.
“
Arminius” is 194 feet long, 35 feet beam, covered with 4 1/2 inches of iron and 9 inches of cushioning; bears 4 guns.
“Prince Adalbert” is 154 feet long, has 4-inch iron-plates, 8 inches of cushion, and carries 3 guns.
The last two ships are monitors.
The guns are all of heavy caliber.
The
Russian sea-going turret ship “Peter the great” is 329 feet 8 inches length between perpendiculars.
Her greatest outside breadth is 63 feet. The builders' measurement is 5,352 tons, and the displacement, with coal, stores, and water in boilers, will be 9,665 tons, at a mean draft of 23 feet 9 inches. The plates on the ship's sides and on the raised building amidships vary from 12 to 14 inches, and the armor-plate protects the ship to a depth of 6 feet below the water-line.
The vessel has no spur, but the upright stem is heavily plated and of enormous strength.
The ship has two large turrets, which are plated with 16 inches of iron in two thicknesses of 14 and 2 inches. She has no masts, bat depends entirely on her compound engines, which were built at
St. Petersburg.
Each engine is of 700 horse-power, and connected with 2 four-bladed screws.
There are 12 boilers, which will require at full speed 132 tons of coal in 24 hours; and at this rate of consumption the engines will work at 10,000 effective horse-power, and the ship will be driven at 14 1/2 knots speed per hour.
If the engines are worked at the second grade of expansion, she will have coal for 17 days, steaming 12 1/2 to 13 knots per hour.
With the single exception of the teak-wood backing, all the materials of the ship, engines, and armament were produced in
Russia, by
Russian workmen.
A round vessel invented by the
Russian Admiral Popoff is 100 feet in diameter, plated with 9 inches of iron, and propelled by six screws on the part which may, by courtesy, be called the stern.
A turret amidships carries two guns, which are fired
en barbette. Below the water-line the vessel is divided into a large number of water-tight compartments.
