the Dupuy de Lôme would be a most powerful and disagreeable enemy for
either of the eight great ironclads of Great Britain now building to
encounter on service. The Hood and Royal Sovereign have many
vulnerable points. At any position outside of the dark and light
colored portions of armor plate indicated in our drawing, they could
be hulled with impunity with the lightest weapons. It is true that gun
detachments and ammunition will be secure within the internal
"crinolines," but how about the other men and _matériel_ between
decks? Now, the Dupuy de Lôme may be riddled through and through bf a
13½ in. shell if a Royal Sovereign ever succeeds in catching her; but
from lighter weapons her between decks is almost secure. We cannot
help feeling a sneaking admiration for the great French cruising
battleship, with her 6,300 tons and 14,000 horse power, giving an easy
speed of 20 knots in almost any weather, and protected by a complete 4
in. steel panoply, which will explode the shells of most of our
secondary batteries on impact, or prevent their penetration. In fact,
there is little doubt that the interior of the Trafalgar, whether as
regards the secondary batteries or the unarmored ends, would be
probably found to be a safer and pleasanter situation, in the event of
action with a Dupuy de Lôme, than either of the naked batteries or the
upper works of the Royal Sovereign. This is what Sir E.J. Reed was so
anxious to point out at the meeting of naval architects in 1889, when
he described the modern British battleship as a "spoiled Trafalgar."
There was perhaps some reason in what he said.--_The Engineer._

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