The British Fleet.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5960, 22 June 1887, Page 7

The British Fleet.

"It was a happy idea," remarks the St James' Budget, "to alter the name of the last new ironclad from the Eenown to the Victoria. The change enabled a compliment to be paid to the Queen, it gave Sir William Armstrong an opportunity of drawing a striking contrast between the Victoria and the Victory, and it got rid of a name which figures unpleasantly in the recent report on Admiralty contracts. The successful launch of the Victoria gives a special interest to the large number of vessels now under construction, and which will form, when completed, the backbone of the British fleet of the future. In 1885 25,000 tons of new shipping were ordered for the Navy, and the Victoria represents the first instalment. Sir William Armstrong said she waa the heaviest ship ever successfully launched in this country ; and so she will remain until the launch of the Sans Pareil, which will divide the honours of top weight with her. But the new fleet will include still heavier vessels. These are the turret-ships Trafalgar and Nile, now building, the former at Portsmouth and the latter at Pembroke. Each of these has a displacement, at load draught, of 11,940 tons, as against the 11,470 of the Victoria and the Sans Pareil ; but all four of these colossal ships wili have engines of 12,000---horse power, and are expected to make a speed of nearly 17 knots an hour. Their estimated cost, ship and armament complete, is also fairly equal, being ,£889,421 for the Nile, <£844,31S for the Trafalgar, .£829,979 for the Victoria, and £525,4G8 for the Sans Pareil. They are all turret-ships, heavily armoured with steel plates, but they differ somewhat in their armament. The Trafalgar and Nile will each carry four 67-ton guns, eight sin, and 18 quick-tiring, while the Victoria and Sans Pareil wili each be armed with two 110-ton, one lOin, 12 6in, and 21 quick-firing guns. The Victoria and the Sans Pareil are to be ready for commission by November, 1888, and the Trafalgar and Nile by 1891."