Page:Unarmoured ships.djvu/24

 , such for example as armour protection or extreme speed.'

M. Dislère suggests that 'the most serviceable cruisers would be vessels armed with two or four 64pounder guns, with as many guns in addition of a smaller calibre, as it would be possible to place on the upper deck. The maximum speed would be 15 knots. The displacement should certainly not exceed 2,900 tons. 'The loss of a ship of that size would not be such a serious catastrophe as the loss of a vessel like the "Inconstant" or "Duquesne," costing a quarter of a million sterling; and the services performed, so long as the cruisers were restricted within their appropriate sphere, would be much the same whether the vessel w^ere a small corvette or a large frigate of extreme speed.'

The best type of cruiser, according to Admiral Touchard, should be a wooden ship, of greater speed than the majority of the foreign ironclads, more handy under canvas, and costing one- third or one-fourth of the price of the larger ship. That is to say, for the cost of an ironclad cruiser with a covered battery, you would have three or four wooden ships, their guns mounted en barbette, of higher speed, and far better adapted than any ironclad for long and distant cruises in time of war.

The Germans have not attempted to introduce vessels of the 'Raleigh' type into their Navy. They have three new corvettes, the 'Ariadne,' the 'Freya,' and the 'Louise,' of 1,258 tons and 350 horse-power; and they have one larger vessel of the same dimensions