was not yet appreciated; and the Captain, with her very moderate height of side, attempting to carry sail in heavy weather in the Bay of Biscay, capsized and went to the bottom with nearly every soul on board. The danger of masting low freeboard ships was then fully appreciated. France continued to develop the barbette ship in the Ocean and Friedland types. Italy constructed only central battery or bow battery ships until 1872. Russia built nothing but turret ships, except some armored cruisers (begun in 1870). Great Britain followed the Monarch and Captain with several low freeboard turret ships, reverting again in 1873 to the central battery in the Alexandra, one of the last and best of this type. France built a few central battery ships with barbette towers in addition, but continued the development of the barbette, with or without an unprotected auxiliary battery. Germany built chiefly central battery ships in the period 1865-73. Italy built no ships at this time. Russia built three or four central battery craft (but they properly belonged to the cruiser class) and one heavy turret ship, the Pietr Velikii.
MONARCH, ENGLAND, 1866.
ALEXANDRA, ENGLAND, 1873.
DUILIO, ITALY, 1873.
INFLEXIBLE, ENGLAND, 1874.
FURIEUX, FRANCE, 1875.
AMIRAL BAUDIN, FRANCE, 1878.
COMMONWEALTH, ENGLAND, 1901.
In 1873-74 a radical change was introduced in
the British and Italian navies. Up to this time,
with few exceptions, the armor belt of battleships
had extended from bow to stern. In 1873
Italy began the construction of the turret ships
Duilio and Dandolo, and Great Britain laid down
the Inflexible. These ships were remarkable in
many ways. They were of unprecedented size
(almost 12,000 tons); almost their whole
battery was concentrated in four enormous guns
behind very thick armor; the complete belt was
given up and a central citadel, extending only a
small portion of the length (in the case of the
Inflexible, less than one-third), hut of enormously
thick armor, protected the vitals, but did not
absolutely insure stability if the unarmored ends
were destroyed; to assist in reducing danger
in case of injury to the ends, a submerged
armored deck extended from the citadel to the bow
and to the stern a few feet below water; and
lastly, their turrets, instead of being on the middle
line of the ship, were placed in ‘echelon,’
the forward one close out to one side of the ship.
and the after one close out to the other. This
method of mounting theoretically doubled the fire
ahead and astern; practically the principal
result was to reduce the weight of fire on one bow
and one quarter and almost destroy fire directly
ahead or astern because of interference of the
upper works. From this time on the development
in each of the principal navies was along
different lines. The British next built two
reduced copies of the Inflexible; then some small
single-turret ships shaped like a shoe—high aft,
low forward; then two more modified copies
of the Inflexible. In the Admiral class
(Collingwood, Benbow, etc.), which followed, the
short belt of the Inflexible was retained and made
narrower by the height of a deck, the main
battery was mounted in barbettes on the middle
line, one forward, one aft, and an auxiliary
battery of 6-inch guns provided, though they
were not protected by armor. Following these
came two more shoe-shaped single-turreted
vessels of large size (10,500 tons). These were
the Sanspareil and her sister, the ill-fated
Victoria; they carried two 110-ton guns in the
turret forward, a 10-inch gun on the poop,
and a battery of twelve 6-inch guns, which was
protected by thin armor. In one of the Admiral
SECTION OF MAJESTIC
(Magnificent class).
class and in the Victoria
and Sanspareil the very
heavy gun reached its maximum
in weight. In the next
ships laid down the weight
was reduced from 110 tons
to 67, and the calibre from
16.25 inches to 13.5. These
ships, the Nile and Trafalgar,
were great improvements
on their predecessors,
and, although their auxiliary
batteries were weak, they
were well protected, as was
the hull. The next design
was that of the Royal Sovereign
class of 14,150 tons, the first of which
was laid down in 1889; in these vessels the
modern battleship is foreshadowed, but it was
not until the Magnificent class (1893) that the
principal details were well settled. These
carried 12-inch guns in turrets and 6-inch guns in
armored sponsons. The later ships resembled
these quite closely, but in the Bulwark class
(1899) the water-line belt was carried to the
bow instead of merely covering the vitals
amidships, and in the Albion (1898) and Commonwealth
(1901) classes it was carried to both bow
and stern. In the last named four guns of
