Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/400

 386 IRON-CLAD SHIPS In the earlier English ironclads the armor extended over a portion of the broadside only, as in the case of the Warrior, whose length is 380 ft., and the armored portion only 213 ft., FIG. 10. Warrior. leaving the extremities of the ship entirely un- protected. At the ends of the armored por- tion iron-plated bulkheads are built across the ship, making with the side armor a central or " box " battery extending to a little more than 6 ft. below the water line. This box battery, or partial protection, is also adopted on the Black Prince, Defence, and Resistance, but has been modified by the addition of a belt of pla- ting extending from the upper to the main decks, before and abaft the broadside armor, on the Hector and Valiant. The main deck on i Fio. 11. Hector. which the guns are fought is thus protected throughout its entire length, but the extremi- ties between wind and water are quite un- protected. Both these plans of disposing the armor were considered unsatisfactory, and in the Minotaur and converted ships of the Cale- donian class, the " complete protection sys- tem," in which the armor extends from stem to stern, and 6 ft. below the water line, was adopted. This system is followed in nearly all the monitors, both English and Amer- ican, and in nearly all the French ships. The great development in the power of ordnance has led not only to increased thickness of armor, but to different modes of disposing it. In the Bellerophon and Hercules, and in oth- FIG. 12. Hercules. er large English ships, an arrangement of the armor consisting of a middle course between the "Warrior and Minotaur has been adopted. FIG. 18. Achilles. The Achilles, a ship of the Warrior class, had the water-line belt added. This plan of plating is known as the central battery and armor belt system. In this arrangement the great weight of the armor and battery is amidships, and the Fio. 14. Invincible. ends of the ship are not overloaded as in the complete protection system. An important mod- ification of the method of applying the armor is shown in the engraving of the Invincible, by which the plating is continued up to such a height above the upper deck, amidships, as to protect four heavy guns mounted at the angles of an octagonal bat- tery, of which the ends are closed by trans- verse iron-plated bulkheads. Previously to the design of this arrangement the Lord Clyde FlQ. 15. Lord Clyde. and Lord Warden were supplied with power- ful armored bow batteries on the upper deck, but the arrangement of the Invincible has many advantages. In their recent ships the French have abandoned the complete protec- tion system, and adopted the central battery and armor belt system, and generally follow the varieties of English practice. The Ameri- can practice, as shown in the New Ironsides and Roanoke, is essentially the same as the central box or partial protection system. In the monitor system the practice has been suf- ficiently indicated. With the low freeboards of these vessels, the armor that would other- wise go upon the sides has to be spread upon the deck to prevent penetration by plunging and vertical fire, to which they are peculiarly liable. The English admiralty have designed an arrangement of armor which they apply to what they call " breastwork monitors." They resemble American monitors, in having their upper decks at comparatively small height above water ; but instead of having these decks flush, except where the turrets, funnels, air shafts, and hatchway casings rise abov& the deck, they have a space amid- ships surrounded by an armored breastwork, which rises several feet above the deck, and encloses the parts just mentioned. By this means the height of the freeboard is materially increased for a great part of the ship's length; the height of the turret parts above water is made much greater than is usual in American monitors ; and the liability to serious in- jury, resulting from the FIG. 1C. Cerberus. perforation of the deck and funnels, and from heavy blows upon the base of the turrets, is much reduced. The Cerbe- rus is a fair representation of the breast- work monitors. The monitor or turret