Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/131

 armour protection, great speed, and a large coal supply, we are forced into a ship of huge dimensions. Confining our attention at present to the barbette system, let us see the latest development of this type of battle ship, though there was an interval when we returned to our early love the turret.

In the 'Benbow' we have a ship of 10,600 tons, in which the principal armament is a single gun of no tons at each end, and ten guns of 5 tons on the broadside. She has 18 in. of compound armour covering the central portion of the water line, but the broadside guns, as well as the ends of the vessel, are unprotected with armour on the side. It was freely asserted that for this reason such vessels were liable to be disabled by vessels with numerous light guns before perhaps their own ponderous ordnance could neutralise the attack. The explosion of a number of even small shell at the water line would, it was urged, admit sufficient water to impair the speed and manœuvring qualities of the ship, though not necessarily to overcome her buoyancy. Again, all nations were seeking some more powerful explosive than powder as a bursting charge for shells. To get these projectiles through iron without breaking, their walls must be thick. Consequently the interior capacity is reduced, and the amount of powder such shells can contain is only sufficient to just open the iron case, or may not even do that. We want, however, the shell to be fractured with violence into numerous pieces, each acting as a separate projectile, and for this a more energetic explosive is required. Many exist,