A NEW WAR SHIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1189, 12 September 1874, Page 5

A NEW WAR SHIP.

The public will hear much, in all probability, before long of a new description of iron-clad fighting ship which has been designed by Mr. Hitt, a gentleman employed in the department of the Post Office. The London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian has been favoured with an inspection of the models and plans of this combination of inventions, and is in a position to give some particulars of its character. Besides a novel design for a war cruiser (he says), the project inoludes a new system of naval gunnery. The principle of the construction of such is that the vessel will be able to fire her guns in every direction while she herself remains stationary. She is intended in the main to fight " bow on," her guns being capable of being trained parallel with her keel, or of revolving for an "all round" fire. In defence or retreat she will present to the enemy an iron-plated side or shield with an angle of 18 degrees. With the view of making her torpedoproof, she will carry iron plates, from the keel upwards, of a thickness calculated to resist what is believed to be the maximum power of these explosives. To compensate in buoyancy for this added weight of metal, her Bides, both above and below the water line, will be made cellular or of cork, with a projection of several feet. Another singular feature is an apparatus for supplying steering power in the event of loss of rudder or screw. This consists of a wheel or paddle laid horizontally in the centre of the ship, midway in the length of her keel, to be lowered into the water when required, and it is represented that by this means the ship may be manoeuvred as on a pivot without making headway. Her bulwarks are to be constructed upon a series of sockets, into which they will temporarily sink when necessary. The guns are to be provided with circular carriages, upon which they are stationed at onefourth of the radius from the centre, and the mechanism provides that the recoil of the discharged gun sinks it below deck for reloading, while the impetus of the descent replenishes the hydraulic power by which it is to be raised again. To complete the design, one gun or the whole armament can be fired at any desired elevation by electricity applied by the operation of a single hand. Parts of this oomprehenßive invention have been brought under the notice of successive Governments at various times since 1860, and partial models have been on view in the United Service Institution ; b\it I am informed that the Bubject is now likely to attract a greater share of official attention than hitherto, possibly beoause of the interest which His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh has lately taken in the design