of that oft-repeated
controversy as to the relative advantages of armored belts and
citadels. Now that a typical French battleship of the belted class has
been brought so prominently to our notice, it may not be considered an
inappropriate season to dwell shortly upon the various idiosyncrasies
of thought which have produced, in our two nations, types of war
vessels differing so materially from each other as to their protective
features. In order to facilitate a study of these features, the
accompanying sketch has been prepared, which shows at a glance the
relative quantities of armored surface that afford protection to the
Nile, the Camperdown, the Marceau, the Royal Sovereign, and the Dupuy
de Lome; the first three of these vessels having been actually present
at the review on the 21st of August and the two others having been
selected as the latest efforts of shipbuilding skill in France and
Great Britain. Nothing but the armored surface in each several class
is shown, the same scale having been adhered to in all cases.

[Illustration: Armored Surface for Various Ships]

Two impressions cannot fail to be made upon our minds, both as to
French and British armor plate disposition. These two impressions, as
regards Great Britain, point to the Royal Sovereign as embodying the
idea of two protected stations with a narrow and partial connecting
belt; and to the Nile as embodying the idea of a vast and absolutely
protected raft. For France, we have the Marceau as representing the
wholly belted type with four disconnected but protected stations; and
the Dupuy de Lome, in which the armor plating is thinned out to a
substance of only 4 in., so as entirely to cover the sides of the
vessel down to 5 ft, below the water line; this thickness of plating
being regarded as sufficient to break up upon its surface the dreaded
melinite or guncotton shell, but permitting the passage of
armor-piercing projectiles right through from side to side; provision
being made to prevent damage from these latter to engines and vitals
by means of double-armored decks below, with a belt of cellulose
between them. Thus, as we have explained, two prominent ideas are
present in the disposition of armor upon the battleships of Great
Britain, as well as in that of the battleships of France. But, while
in our country these two ideas follow one another in the natural
sequence of development, from the Inflexible to the Royal Sovereign,
the citadel being grad