Man on the Ocean Part 8

WOODEN AND IRON WALLS.

The birth of the British Navy may be said to have taken place in the reign of King Alfred. That great and good king, whose wisdom and foresight were only equalled by his valour, had a fleet of upwards of one hundred s.h.i.+ps. With these he fought the Danes to the death, not always successfully, not always even holding his own; for the Danes at this early period of their history were a hardy race of sea-warriors, not less skilful than courageous. But to King Alfred, with his beaked, oared war-s.h.i.+ps, is undoubtedly due the merit of having laid the foundation of England's maritime ascendency.

England under the Normans does not seem to have greatly desired to excel in maritime enterprise, but it was otherwise during the Plantagenet period. Henry the Second possessed a most formidable fleet, numbering some five hundred vessels of war. During the reign of his successor a novel artifice in naval warfare was resorted to by the English which merits notice. The English admiral caused a number of barrels of unslaked lime to be placed in his s.h.i.+ps. Having brought his fleet to windward of the enemy--the French--he ordered water to be poured on the lime. This of course raised a great and dense smoke, which, being blown by the wind into the very faces of the French, prevented the latter from seeing on what quarter they were being attacked. A panic arose, and spread, among the French vessels, and the victory fell easily to the English.

The navy of Edward the Third numbered eleven hundred s.h.i.+ps when he undertook the invasion of France. But the great majority of these were not properly men-of-war--in fact, there were only five fully equipped wars.h.i.+ps; the rest were for the most part merchant vessels converted into fighting s.h.i.+ps and transports for the time being. The navy of King Philip of France, though numerically weaker, far surpa.s.sed that of the English king in point of equipment. Of the four hundred s.h.i.+ps of which it consisted, no fewer than one hundred had, been built purposely for war, according to the best principles of naval architecture then known.

Bows, catapults, javelins, and weapons of a like description were the engines of offence used on both sides, and with these much havoc was wrought at close quarters. The English were victorious, notwithstanding the more scientific equipment of their foes. The French s.h.i.+ps were boarded, and the flower of King Philip's naval force must that day have perished.

Henry the Seventh did much for the improvement of the English navy. It was during his reign that the _Great Harry_ was built, which was really the first large s.h.i.+p built directly for the Royal Navy. Hitherto the vessels employed by England for national defence or offence had been supplied by certain maritime towns; but the _Great Harry_ was the property of the people. She was built in 1488, and had port-holes for cannon in the lower deck, being the first vessel thus constructed. The _Great Harry_ was subsequently far surpa.s.sed by another of King Henry's s.h.i.+ps, the _Grace de Dieu_, which was no less than one thousand tons burden, and carried seven hundred men and one hundred and twenty-two guns, (some writers mention only eighty guns) the largest of which were but eighteen-pounders. The _Grace de Dieu_ was a four-masted vessel, and was built in 1515.

An epoch in England's maritime history, which was in some respects the most brilliant and momentous, now falls to be mentioned; a period when England's name became a synonym on the seas for everything that was most intrepid and successful in maritime enterprise; an era of daring adventure and splendid achievement, which at length established England as the first naval power among the nations of Europe.

Not without long and fierce struggle, however, was this supremacy won.

The French, Spanish, and Dutch each and all in turn disputed England's claim to the sovereignty of the seas. It is unnecessary to repeat here the oft-told tale of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, nor yet the almost as familiar story of our frequent naval encounters with the Dutch in the days of Admiral Blake and the great Dutch Admiral Van Tromp.

Long and desperate those conflicts were, and nothing but indomitable courage and stubborn perseverance could have secured the victory for the English s.h.i.+ps, for in almost every instance our foes were numerically the stronger.

In the thrice famous days of Nelson, it was still our "wooden walls"

which carried the flag of England on from triumph to triumph. At the battle of Trafalgar the _Victory_ and the French s.h.i.+p the _Redoubtable_ were brought up close alongside of each other, and in this position poured volley after volley upon each other's bulwarks, until water had to be thrown over the s.h.i.+ps' sides to prevent them igniting. The _Victory_ was a grand s.h.i.+p in her time, yet she was not more than two thousand tons burden, and her guns were but one hundred and two in number.

But at last the day arrived when it became manifest that the glory of our "wooden walls" had set. In the prime of his intellectual and physical strength, the Emperor Louis Napoleon was a man of active and subtle brain, and it was to his ingenious invention that the first ironclad s.h.i.+p of war owed its birth. Floating batteries protected with iron plates were first employed during the Crimean War. It was becoming manifest that the great strides which were being made in the manufacture of cannon must necessitate an improved system of defensive armour for s.h.i.+ps of war. No wooden vessel that could be constructed could be proof against the new guns that were now coming rapidly into use.

The French, as has been just indicated, were the first in the field with the new style of war-s.h.i.+ps. _La Gloire_ was built, and was quickly followed by our own _Warrior_. The frame of _La Gloire_ was constructed of wood, but covered with an iron plating four and a half inches in thickness. The _Warrior_ was built on an iron frame, and her armour-plating is of the same thickness as that of _La Gloire_; the lining is of solid teak eighteen inches thick, which is again backed by an inner coating of iron. The length of the _Warrior_ is three hundred and eighty feet, but only about two-thirds of this is iron-plated.

At this time--the early days of ironclads--the heaviest shot that could be thrown by any gun was a sixty-eight pounder. Guns of this calibre the _Warrior_ and her cla.s.s were proof against. But the guns increased rapidly in size and power, and the thickness of the armour with which the s.h.i.+ps were protected had to be increased in proportion. The cla.s.s of war-vessels which succeeded the _Warrior_ were entirely cased with iron plates, whose thickness has from time to time been increased.

Since the first ironclad was built, then, a contest--for only such it can be called--has been going on between the cannon-maker and the s.h.i.+p-builder, the one striving to construct a gun which shall pierce the thickest armour which the s.h.i.+p can carry, the other adding inch upon inch to his armour plates, to the end that they may be shot-proof; and this contest may be said to be going on at this hour.

Will there ever be the same romance about the wars.h.i.+ps of the present day,--what those of the future will be like we do not care to speculate,--and the old "wooden walls" whose prowess on the high seas founded England's maritime glory? Will a Dibdin ever arise to sing a _Devastation_ or a _Glatton_? Can a _Devastation_ or a _Glatton_ ever inspire poetic thoughts and images? One would say that the singer must be endowed in no ordinary degree with the sacred fire whom such a theme as a modern ironclad turret-s.h.i.+p should move to lyric utterance. It has been said that all the romance of the road died out with the old coaching days; and certainly a locomotive engine, with its long black train of practical-looking cars, makes hardly so picturesque a feature in the landscape as one of the old stage-coaches with its red-coated driver, horn-blowing guard, and team of mettled greys; but a railway train is an embodiment of poetry compared with a turret-s.h.i.+p. But if it be true that poetry and romance must more and more cease to be a.s.sociated with our navy, we must just accept the fact, for nothing is more certain than that, whatever the wars.h.i.+ps of the future _may_ be, we can never again return to the days of the old wooden s.h.i.+ps.

Several opposing difficulties have now to be met in the construction of ironclads. Invulnerability as regards the enemy's guns, protection to the men on board, speed, and the quality of being easily managed at sea,--all these points have to be carefully considered; and the difficulty is that one quality wars against another. A s.h.i.+p might be built which was proof against any guns that could be devised, and then might be found utterly unmanageable and unsafe at sea. A balance of qualities has therefore to be struck, and this perfect equipoise has by no means been as yet attained. Every year--we might say every month-- witnesses the birth of some new type of armour-plated war-s.h.i.+p, built in every case at an enormous cost. The new sea-monster looks formidable enough in all conscience; but the question that arises the instant she quits the dock is, Is she sea-worthy? And with the fate of the _Captain_ and the _Vanguard_ in our memories, the question may well arise. The story of modern war-s.h.i.+ps has, up to this, been one of mingled success and failure. Does not the epigram on our war-s.h.i.+ps--our "sub-marine fleet"--owe its point and sting, in a measure, to its truth?

Of the various types of modern war-vessels, the most formidable yet devised are undoubtedly the _steam-rams_ and _turret-s.h.i.+ps_. The steam-ram is armed with a strong steel beak, with which it charges an enemy in much the same way as the war-galleys of ancient times charged a foe, or as a sword-fish attacks its adversary. The turret-s.h.i.+p carries one or more shot-proof circular turrets, in which one or more guns are worked by the crew, the guns being capable of being turned and pointed in any direction. Both turret-s.h.i.+ps and steam-rams are, of course, iron plated.

Vessels of this description were first employed by the Americans in the great civil war. The careers of the _Merrimac_ and _Monitor_ may be said to have become a part of American national history. The _Merrimac_ was the first iron-plated steam-ram. She was originally a wooden frigate; was cut down, coated with iron, and furnished with a ram. In her famous encounter with the _Congress_ and the _c.u.mberland_, two wooden frigates of the Federals, she steamed alongside the former, delivered a raking fire, and then, turning upon the _c.u.mberland_, attacked that vessel with her ram. Of the _c.u.mberland_ she made quick work; for having torn a gaping rent in her side, she poured a damaging fire into the gap, hanging on by the sharp iron beak with which steam-rams are furnished.

Then withdrawing to a short distance, she again charged her adversary, and delivered a second terrible fire, until the _c.u.mberland_ finally sank. The Merrimac then turned her attention to the _Congress_, whose fate she sealed in about half an hour. The first shot caused fearful destruction, killing every man at one of the guns, blowing away the bulk-heads, strewing the deck with a carnage too horrible to dwell upon, and finally setting the s.h.i.+p on fire. The _Congress_ at last struck her colours, but during the night she blew up.

This formidable vessel had subsequently to haul down her colours before the _Monitor_--in a figurative sense, that is, for she did not actually surrender, but retreated after a contest of some hours. In this notable struggle the _Merrimac_ sustained much damage, without succeeding in inflicting on her enemy anything like the same amount of injury; in fact, the _Monitor_ came out of the action scathless.

The changes that are taking place in the construction of war-s.h.i.+ps are so various and so rapid, that we cannot attempt to do more here than take note of a few of the princ.i.p.al; and even what are mentioned as novelties now, before these pages appear may have ceased to be novelties.

Iron is now employed in almost every part of a war-s.h.i.+p, the masts themselves being in many cases of iron--hollow tubes through which the running rigging may be let down when there is danger of its being damaged by the enemy's fire. The majority of modern ironclads are built in compartments, with this advantage that, if damage is sustained in one part of the vessel, and the water rush in through the gap made by shot or any other cause, the s.h.i.+p will still float until the water can be let out again.

The American ironclad turret-s.h.i.+p _Monitor_ has given her name to a whole cla.s.s of vessels built within recent years for the English navy; but in many respects our vessels are superior to their American prototype. All these s.h.i.+ps--which are characterised by low free-boards and absence of masts and sails--fight their guns from turrets. They are sometimes known as "coast-defence s.h.i.+ps," from the circ.u.mstance that they were constructed mainly for home service.

Of these "English monitors," four--the _Cyclops_, _Gorgon_, _Hecate_, and _Hydra_--are built on identically similar principles. In appearance they may be best compared to a raft with a battery on top of it, from which fortress or battery rise various funnels and a flag-staff. The deck is but three feet and a half above the level of the sea. While the s.h.i.+ps are in port the deck is roofed in with an awning and railed round; but both awning and railing are removed when the vessels put to sea.

The battery or fortress is in the centre of the s.h.i.+p, and fills up about one-third of her length and three-fourths of her breadth. The surrounding deck is flush, its surface being broken only by the skylights, which are three in number. The skylights allow but a scant and dim light to penetrate to the officers' and seamen's quarters below; but even this is wanting in time of action, when a shot-proof s.h.i.+eld takes the place of the gla.s.s windows.

The deck of the da.s.s of war-s.h.i.+ps we are describing is composed of twin-layers of iron plating half an inch each in thickness, supported on iron beams, and of two layers of solid teak lining four inches thick.

The sides of the s.h.i.+ps are protected by iron plating of eight-inch thickness amids.h.i.+ps, which is an inch more of iron than the armour possessed by the majority of our masted sea-going ironclads, many of which are twice or thrice the size of the _Cyclops_ and her sister-s.h.i.+ps. It will thus be seen that these turret-s.h.i.+ps are practically stronger in defensive equipment than any other cla.s.s of ironclad cruisers.

The battery of these vessels is surrounded by a breastwork six feet in height, plated with nine-inch armour. Entrance is gained to the turrets themselves from inside this breastwork. In the centre of the turret there are two cylinders, the one fitting over the other in a manner which keeps the whole steady even in rough weather. Small steam-engines placed inside the breastwork serve to turn the turrets, which, however, can also be worked by manual labour should necessity demand it.

The ports present a striking contrast to those in the old wooden s.h.i.+ps, by reason of their greatly diminished size. They just admit of the muzzle of the gun peeping through, and no more, being oval in shape, and about three feet in diameter lengthways. There can be little doubt that these small ports are an advantage, since they must afford greater protection to the gunners during action. When it is desired to alter the direction of the guns, the change is not effected by moving them in the ports, but by revolving the turret itself. Should it ever happen in action that the free movement of the turret should become impeded from some cause, then the only means of changing the direction of the guns would be to turn the whole s.h.i.+p.

The turrets are armed with two twenty-five ton guns, carrying four hundred pound shot. The deck being flush, as has been mentioned, the guns can be fired straight ahead and astern, and command all sides.

Less than one minute is needed to revolve the whole turret. This cla.s.s of s.h.i.+ps is believed to be able to keep up a constant steady fire whether in chase or in retreat.

Abaft the funnel in these s.h.i.+ps there is an upright oval tube rising some seventeen feet above the level of the main deck, plated with iron.

The upper plate is pierced with several small horizontal slits, from which the tube has received the name of the "conning-house," for through these openings the captain can "con" or note whatever is going on outside, without himself being exposed to danger. This circular box just allows the captain to turn himself about in; and here must he stand in time of action, directing and governing the whole conduct of his s.h.i.+p by mechanical telegraphs.

Of the many curious and remarkable features in these s.h.i.+ps, one of the most remarkable is the extensive use made of machinery for every purpose. Engines revolve the turrets, raise the ashes from the engine-rooms, turn the capstans, work the rudders;--engines do everything.

Three monitors similar to those just described were built for the defence of several of our colonies. The colony of Victoria, we believe, purchased their ironclad, the _Cerberus_, from the home Government; at any rate, the people maintain her at their own cost. Before the _Cerberus_ could make the voyage out to Melbourne, her sides had to be built up with thin iron plating for nearly her whole length. In the same way the _Cyclops_ and her companion-s.h.i.+ps might be made fit to face any sea or weather.

It may occur to the reader to ask, Why not have sea-going masted vessels at once? To which it may be answered, first, that the masted s.h.i.+ps must inevitably draw more water than those of which the _Cyclops_ and _Hecate_ are types. Turret-s.h.i.+ps like the _Monarch_, or broadside-s.h.i.+ps like the _Hercules_ and _Sultan_, draw about twenty-five feet of water; the smaller s.h.i.+ps only sixteen, while at the same time they are more heavily armoured. Thus the latter, if close pressed by an enemy's sea-going ironclads--the only cla.s.s from which they have much to fear-- could take shelter up a river out of their reach. In action near the land these monitors, moreover, could be handled with greater ease.

Secondly, from their much smaller size, the coast-defence s.h.i.+ps are built at a much less cost--an important consideration in days when a first-cla.s.s ironclad costs about as much as a small fleet of bygone days. The vessels we have been describing are of rather more than two thousand tons burden, as compared with the five thousand tons of the larger sea-going s.h.i.+ps; and, speaking roughly, the expense of construction is proportionate to the tonnage.

The _Glatton_ turret-s.h.i.+p has several characteristics in which it differs from the above cla.s.s of monitors. It has but a single turret, and its guns throw six hundred pound shot, carrying three miles and a half. Her water-draught is about six feet more than that of the _Cyclops_ and _Hecate_, and her armour-plates three inches thicker.

Though she carries fewer guns, the _Glatton_ is a much more powerful vessel than the other monitors. (Note: The above description of English monitors is adapted and abridged from an article in Chambers's Journal.)

We shall now briefly describe the _Devastation_, one of the largest and most powerful of all our ironclads. The _Devastation_ in her after-part rises but four feet and a half above the water; but to meet bad weather she is furnished with an armour-plated half-raised forecastle, so that forward she is nine feet out of the water. The free-board amids.h.i.+ps is still higher, being at this point level with the platform on which the two turrets are placed. In the centre of the s.h.i.+p rises a circular iron erection, on the top of which is the hurricane-deck. Through this structure runs a pa.s.sage, in which are situated the entrances to the hatchways and to the hurricane-deck overhead.

From the hurricane-deck rise the s.h.i.+p's two funnels; and here also are the captain's fighting box, already alluded to in describing the coast-defence s.h.i.+ps, the fire-proof s.h.i.+eld for protecting the steering gear, and the boats. In a gale the hurricane-deck is the only safe place in s.h.i.+ps of this kind--the only place where one would not get speedily washed overboard. As for the below part of the s.h.i.+p, it is there almost impossible to breathe, even when air has been pumped in from above, which is the only means of ventilating this portion of the vessel.

The _Devastation_ carries two guns in each of her turrets, placed side by side, each weighing thirty-five tons. The turrets, directly the guns have been fired, can be wheeled rapidly round, thus turning the exposed parts away from the enemy.

s.h.i.+ps such as the _Devastation_, the _Thunderer_, and the _Fury_ do not, at first sight, strike one as particularly well adapted for rough weather, to put it in the mildest phrase. Nevertheless, the _Devastation_ has been fairly well tested in this way, having encountered some pretty rough weather, and, it is affirmed, behaved satisfactorily. The great danger about all s.h.i.+ps of this cla.s.s is that they may not rise to the seas, but that the waves, breaking over them, may press them down and founder them. The _Thunderer_ has been known to have her forecastle, which is somewhat lower than that of the _Devastation_, completely submerged, and this, too, when no very high sea was running. These s.h.i.+ps are designed, not for home service and coast defence merely, but for general action in mid-ocean.

To attempt to describe even a single specimen of each type of modern war-s.h.i.+ps would to a certainty weary the reader, for to any but an expert there would inevitably be a sense of repet.i.tion in the perusal of such a narrative. But in order to place before our readers something like an approximate idea, at any rate, of the present state of our navy, we shall examine briefly one other first-cla.s.s ironclad, the _Inflexible_, which may be regarded as a leading example of ironclad s.h.i.+ps, and, at the time of writing, as one of the highest achievements of modern naval architecture.

The _Inflexible_ is the vast size of 11,400 tons burden, her horse-power being 8000. The length is 320 feet, her armour-plating from 16 to 24 inches thick, with an inner lining of wood from 17 to 25 inches in thickness. She is divided into 135 compartments, and her engines are placed at such a distance from each other that should one be disabled from any cause the other would still be in working order.

The chief characteristic of the _Inflexible_ is the position of the turrets. The majority of s.h.i.+ps of this description have their turrets in the middle line, from which it results that only one half of their guns can be directed on an enemy, whether ahead or astern. The _Inflexible_ has her turrets on each side--the fore-turret on the port-side, the after-turret on the starboard. She can thus use the whole of her guns against an enemy _at the same time_, whether it be ahead or astern.

It will be seen that the thickness of the armour-plating with which the _Inflexible_ is protected is enormous; and yet this thickness of iron has been pierced. The question, then, that immediately suggests itself is, _Can_ a vessel be constructed to carry much heavier armour-plating than this? A recent writer in the _Times_ declares not. "So far as the exigencies of the navy are concerned," he says, "the limit of weight seems to have already been reached, for the simple reason that the buoyancy of our ironclads cannot with safety be further diminished by the burden of heavier armour and armaments."

The following very graphic description of the interior of a turret-s.h.i.+p was written by an eye-witness of the scene described. It is an extract from a narrative supplied to the author of "The Sea: its Stirring Story of Adventure and Peril," from which we take it. The vessel described was the _Miantonoma_, an American ironclad turret-s.h.i.+p.

"You ascend again through a trap-door, and find yourself in a circular room, some twelve feet in diameter, padded from top to bottom like the interior of a carriage. By your side is a huge ma.s.s of iron. You are inside the turret. A glimmering lamp sheds its feeble light on the moving forms around you, and from below comes the faint whispering of the men, until the trap is shut and you are again in utter silence.

"`_Prepare_!' The gunner's mate stands on your toes, and tells you to lean forward and thrust your tongue out of your mouth. You hear the creaking of machinery. It is a moment of intense suspense. Gradually a glimmer of light--an inch--a flood! The s.h.i.+eld pa.s.ses from the opening; the gun runs out. A flash, a roar--a mad reeling of the senses, and crimson clouds flitting before your eyes--a horrible pain in your ears, a sense of oppression on your chest, and the knowledge that you are not on your feet--a whispering of voices blending with the concert in your ears--a darkness before your eyes--and you feel yourself plump up against the padding, whither you have been thrown by the violence of the concussion.

"Before you have recovered sufficiently to note the effects I have endeavoured to describe, the s.h.i.+eld is again in its place and the gun ready for reloading. They tell you that the best part of the sound has escaped through the port-hole, otherwise there would be no standing it, and our gunner's mate whispers in your ears, `It's all werry well, but they bu'sts out bleeding from the chest and ears after the fourth discharge, and has to be taken below.' You have had enough of it too, and are glad that they don't ask you to witness another shot fired."

It must be stated that since the _Miantonoma_ was built a new and improved principle of turret-firing has been introduced. Electricity is now employed in discharging the guns, and there is thus no necessity for anyone being in the turret, which is of course a great advantage.