Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century

latest additions out of the thirty or forty armoured ships that have been added to the British Navy since the preceding pages were written is included in the above table for the sake of comparison. Our ironclad fleet now includes vessels protected and armed in many different ways. Some have the protective armour extended continuously along the water-line, others have it for only a greater or less part of their length. The armaments are also very diverse as to the size of the guns and the way in which they are mounted. A few carry one or two of the huge 110–ton gun mounted in massive revolving turrets; others have their guns in central batteries, or in barbettes, and others again are arranged as broadside ships; while these plans are also variously combined so as to form a great number of different types. In the ships built within the last 15 years, steel has been almost invariably used instead of iron for the armour-plating. A great increase of speed has been obtained in late years. The largest British armoured ships yet launched have displacements between 10,000 and 12,000 tons, but another class of first-rate line-of-battle ships of still greater size is in process of construction, and of these it is estimated that four will be completed in 1893. They are all of the same design and armament, and will have a displacement of 14,150 tons, a length of 380 feet, and a breadth of 75 feet. The armour plates at the sides will be 18 inches thick. Each ship will carry four 67–ton breech loading rifled guns, ten 6–inch quick firing guns, and 18 other smaller guns, also quick firing. These vessels are expected to realize a speed of about 20 miles per hour; but this is somewhat less than a few of the heavy ironclads now afloat have given by actual trial, a rate equal to 21⅓ miles an hour having been attained by some. Several of our rapid unarmoured cruisers are able to steam at 25 miles an hour. Before the close of 1894, the British navy possessed no fewer than eight of the largest armoured line of battle-ships mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, each being of 14,150 tons displacement, and having engines of 13,000 horse-power. At the same period there were in course of construction four ships surpassing even these in tonnage, though of somewhat less engine-power. Two were building at Portsmouth, to be called the Majestic and the Royal George, whilst the Jupiter was in progress at Glasgow and the Mars at Birkenhead. All these are very heavily armoured vessels, each displacing 14,900 tons, provided with engines of 12,000 horse-power, and a very effective armament of guns. Among the powerful ships of the navy may now also be noted the Blake, the Blenheim, which, although the displacement is only 500 tons greater than that of König Wilhelm, have engines of nearly three times the power, namely, of 20,000 horse-power. Of large armoured ships, namely, those of 9,000 tons and upwards, Great Britain now has afloat at least fifty; and the advance that has taken place in the size and power of war-ships during the last twenty years may be inferred by reference to the foregoing paragraphs giving the dimensions, &c., of the Glatton and the Thunderer, which paragraphs are, for the sake of comparison, allowed to appear as they did in the first edition (1876) of this book. Besides these very large armoured vessels, of which the smallest is nearly twice as big as the largest of twenty-five years ago, the British navy comprises ships of every size and for every purpose, and so many of them that their names and classifications would occupy many pages. Two recent additions representing new type of ships claim notice before this article is concluded. These are first the Terrible, with a 168sister ship the Powerful. The former, of which a representation[3] is given in Plate V., is pronounced, for its size, armour, armament, and speed taken together, to be the most powerful cruiser in the world. The length is 538 ft., breadth 71 ft., depth 43 ft., and the displacement is 14,250 tons. A special object in the design of this vessel was high speed, and she is provided with twin-screws and two engines, the combined effort of which is equal to 25,000 horse-power. There are forty-eight boilers and four funnels, the ship being capable of carrying 3,000 tons of coal. The vessel is built on the lines of the great Atlantic steamers, and the engines, guns, and magazines are protected by a thick curved armour deck. The vessel has a speed of 22 knots, or 25⅓ miles per hour. Her armament consists of two 22–ton guns, twelve 6–in. quick-firing, and many other smaller machine guns, and she carries besides four submerged torpedo tubes. A second ship to be noted is amongst those designed mainly to exceed all other craft in speed, and ranging in tonnage from 3,800 to 4,500. The Janus, a torpedo-boat destroyer of this class, was found, at a recent trial over a measured mile, to attain the then unexampled speed of 28 knots, or 32¼ miles per hour. But even this has been beaten by a new torpedo-boat destroyer, built by Messrs. Yarrow at Poplar for the Russian Government, and launched in August, 1895. This vessel, within a few hours after leaving the stocks, cut through the water at the rate of 30·285 knots, or nearly 35 miles, per hour. 3. From Graphic, 1st June, 1895. A sad fate befell the Victoria, which was one of the heaviest armed of British ships (vide page 129), when taking part in some naval manœuvres off Tripoli, on the Syrian coast, where she was the flag-ship of Admiral Tryon, commander-in-chief of the squadron. On the 22nd June, 1893, in consequence of an inconsiderate order given by the admiral himself, the Victoria was struck by the formidable ram of the Camperdown (10,600), and in fifteen minutes turned over and sank in sight of the whole fleet, carrying down with her the admiral, 30 officers, and 320 men, out of a crew of 600. [1895.] Fig. 78b.—Firing at a floating battery. PLATE XI. H.M.S. “TERRIBLE.” 169 Fig. 79.—Krupp’s Works, at Essen, Prussia. FIRE-ARMS. The invention of gunpowder—or rather its use in war—appears at first sight a device little calculated to promote the general progress of mankind. But it has been pointed out by some historians that the introduction of gunpowder into Europe brought about the downfall of the feudal system with its attendant evils. In those days every man was practically a soldier: the bow or the sword he inherited from his father made him ready for the fray. But when cannons, muskets, and mines began to be used, the art of war became more difficult. The simple possession of arms did not render men soldiers, but a long special training was required. The greater cost of the new arms also contributed to change the arrangements of society. Standing armies were established, and war became the calling of only a small part of the inhabitants of a country, while the majority were left free to devote themselves to civil employments. Then the useful arts of life received more attention, inventions were multiplied, commerce began to be considered as honourable an avocation as war, letters were cultivated, and other foundations laid for modern science. If such have really been the indirect results of the invention of gunpowder, we shall hardly share the regret of the fine gentleman in “Henry IV.”: “That it was great pity, so it was, That villanous saltpetre should be digged Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, Which many a good tall fellow had destroyed So cowardly.” We often hear people regretting that so much attention and ingenuity as are shown by the weapons of the present day should have been expended 170upon implements of destruction. It would not perhaps be difficult to show that if we must have wars, the more effective the implements of destruction, the shorter and more decisive will be the struggles, and the less the total loss of life, though occurring in a shorter time. Then, again, the exasperated and savage feelings evoked by the hand-to-hand fighting under the old system have less opportunity for their exercise in modern warfare, which more resembles a game of skill. But the wise and the good have in all ages looked forward to a time when sword and spear shall be everywhere finally superseded by the ploughshare and the reaping-hook, and the whole human race shall dwell together in amity. Until that happy time arrives— “Till the war-drum throbs no longer, and the battle flags are furl’d In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world— When the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law,”— we may consider that the more costly and ingenious and complicated the implements of war become, the more certain will be the extension and the permanence of civilization. The great cost of such appliances as those we are about to describe, the ingenuity needed for their contrivance, the elaborate machinery required for their production, and the skill implied in their use, are such that these weapons can never be the arms of other than wealthy and intelligent nations. We know that in ancient times opulent and civilized communities could hardly defend themselves against poor and barbarous races. But the world cannot again witness such a spectacle as Rome presented when the savage hordes of Alaric swarmed through her gates, and the mighty civilization of centuries fell under the assaults of the northern barbarians. In our day it is the poor and barbarous tribes who are everywhere at the mercy of the wealthy and cultivated nations. The present age has been so remarkably fertile in warlike inventions, that it may truthfully be said that the progress made in fire-arms and war-ships within the second half of the nineteenth century surpasses everything that had been previously accomplished from the time gunpowder came into use. Englishmen have good reason to be proud of the position taken by their country, and may feel assured that her armaments will enable her to hold her own among the most advanced nations of the world. The subject of fire-arms embraces a very wide ground, as will appear if we consider the many different forms in which these weapons are constructed in order best to serve particular purposes. Pertaining to this subject, attention must also be directed to the modern projectiles and to the newer explosives that have largely taken the place of ordinary gunpowder. The shot gun, fowling-piece, and sporting rifle properly come under the head of fire-arms, and in the march of improvement these forms have most commonly been in advance of military muskets and rifles, the ingenuity bestowed on all their details being worthy of admiration. Nevertheless it is to the implements of war that general interest attaches; for on them depends so much the fate of battles and the destiny of nations, that whenever any country is engaged in war the question of arms becomes one of surpassing importance, enlisting the patriotic instincts of every citizen. Hence in the following pages our space will be devoted mainly to weapons of war, and more particularly to those that have been adopted by our own country. Everyone of course is aware that guns, cannon, and gunpowder are by no means inventions of the nineteenth century; but there are fewer 171acquainted with the fact that rifling, breech-loading, machine guns, and revolvers were all invented and tried hundreds of years before. The devices by which some of these ideas were sought to be realised in past ages appear to us in some instances very primitive, not to say childish, when compared with modern work: but it must be remembered that nearly all the appliances required for producing such weapons had themselves to wait for their invention until the nineteenth century; such, for instance, as the steam-hammer, powerful and accurate tools, refined measuring implements, material entirely reliable such as the new steel, and also scientific investigations of all the conditions involved. The military fire-arms are of so many different forms