Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

WARSHIPS. 391 descriptions has, of course, advanced propor- resisting power to one inch of iron, and conse- tionately. Well within living memory, the cost of a first-class battleship did not exceed £500,000. It is therefore not surprising that there are at present critics who contend that, considering the necessary limits of ex- penditure and the requirements of a navy having such wide responsibilities as our own, we should not increase materially the size of the ships now being built, and that in ships of the Dreadnought class we have already gone too far. A disaster to one of these vessels, either in peace or in war, would be a great financial blow to any navy, and there would not be wanting people to tell us that we should not put “ too many eggs in one basket.” At present, however, Britain, like all the other great naval powers, is turning her attention to battleships and armoured quently the disposition of the bunkers is of primary importance when the ship carries no side armour. With the building of the Cressy type of cruiser (1897), the “armoured cruiser” was really introduced into the British Navv, although a narrow armour belt had previously been Armoured . Cruisers. adopted in the Orlando class. The quality of armour manufactured on the Krupp process had been so. much improved by this time that it was found possible to protect the sides of cruisers for about half their length, with a belt of 6-inch armour, 11| feet deep, and to close in the ends with, bulkheads 5 inches thick. The Invincible, Inflexible, and Indomitable (laid down in 1905) represent the latest word cruisers of a size and cost never previously in the design of armoured cruisers. They are 530 feet long (an immense length for a warship) ; displace 17,250 tons, or only 650 tons less THE RUDDER FRAME OF A BATTLESHIP. [Photo, Messrs. William Beardmore and Company.) contemplated. The cruiser, as its name implies, was at first intended to co-operate with Protected armour-clad fleets in the same manner as sailing frigates did with fleets of sailing line-of-battle ships in th© days when England’s sea su- premacy depended on her “ wooden walls.” The essential features of the cruiser were at first considered to be great speed, protection without the use of side armour, a powerful armament, and minimum size and cost. These conditions gave rise to the “ protected cruiser ” —that is, a vessel with the machinery and other vital parts covered with a thick armoured deck, minute water- tight subdivision, and coal bunkers so arranged as to give the maximum side protection. It may be remarked that two feet of coal is equivalent in