belt. It is proposed to fill the cofferdam with obturating material. Inboard of the cofferdam is a passage way. On the first deck above the belt there are fitted on each side partial partitions extending inboard from the sides of the vessel, and producing the effect of a number of wide stalls. These are fitted on the Jeanne d'Arc and vessels similar to her, and are made of metal not thicker than 0.08 inch, and have a beading on the inboard edge. They are placed at every fourth beam and extend nearly the entire length of the deck, being discontinued only at the ends, where the sides begin to curve markedly toward the bow and stern. They are intended to localize water in case the vessel should take a marked heel through injury in battle. They are secured inboard to a fore and aft strip about 18 inches in height. Turret armor, 5.5 inches.

Motive power.-Triple-screw engines designed to develop 17,100 horsepower at 150 revolutions and give a speed of 21 knots. Twenty-four Belleville boilers, in eight fire-rooms, with a total grate area of 1076 square feet. Coal supply, normal, 880 tons; total capacity, 1200 tons.

Dimensions.-Length, 426.5 feet; beam, 58.66 feet; mean draft, 22 feet; displacement, 7710 tons (metric).

IÉNA: TRIALS, DESCRIPTION.-This battleship is very similar to the three of the Charlemagne class and differs chiefly in the caliber of her heavy auxiliary guns, in having a nearly straight stem, and in the different arrangement of the upper part of her superstructure and military tops. There are two military masts, each carrying a domelike top-that on the mainmast being placed quite low. A photograph of the ship will be published in these notes as soon as she is fully completed for service. The hull is of steel, without sheathing The principal details are:

Armament.-Four 12-inch guns in pairs in turrets forward and aft. Eight 6.48-inch guns in central casemate like the lower eight 5.5-inch guns of the Charlemagne, forward four firing directly ahead and after four directly astern. Eight 3.9-inch guns on the superstructure, four each side. Sixteen 3-pounders. Sixteen 1-pounder and light guns. Four torpedo tubes, two of which are submerged.

Protection.-Complete water-line belt, 13.8 inches thick amidships and 5.9 inches at the ends. Secondary belt above this 4.7 inches thick. Two protective decks-upper one 2.5 inches and lower one 0.79 inch-meet the top and bottom edges of the belt at the side and the space between them is closely subdivided. Between the top of the belt and the lower edge of the casemate of the 6.48-inch guns there is an unarmored space about four feet wide. Thickness of turrets, 11.8 inches; of casemate armor, 4.7 inches.

Motive power.-Triple-screw, 4-cylinder, triple-expansion engines designed to develop 15,500 I. H. P. and give a speed of 18 knots at 125 revolutions. Twenty Belleville boilers. Normal coal supply, 820 tons; total capacity for coal, petroleum, and briquettes, 1100 tons. The trials have all been completed except that at full power. The results, as far as attained, are:

She has suffered much from hot bearings, said to be owing to too light construction of the hull. Le Yacht says that she is one of the few vessels in the French navy which is floating above her designed waterline, and thus possessing a reserve of displacement.

Dimensions.-Length on water-line, 400.75 feet; beam, 68.37 feet; draft aft, 27.5 feet; displacement, 12,052 tons (metric).

SABRE, FRANCISQUE, DARD, BALESTE, MOUSQUETON, ARC, PISTOLET, BELIER, CATAPulte, Bombarde, Mousquet, JAVELINE: DESCRIPTION.— These torpedo-boat destroyers are, or are about to be, ordered. The first two are to be taken in hand at Rochefort without delay and the Mousquet and Javeline, which really belong to last year's program, were recently ordered from the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire. The principal dimensions are: length, 183.7 feet; beam, 19.7 feet; draft, 9.35 feet; displacement, a little less than 300 tons. The horsepower of the machinery will be 6300 and the expected speed 28 knots. The hull will be of nickel steel. The armament will consist of one 2.56-inch gun, six 3pounders, and two torpedo tubes. The cost of the Mousquet and Javeline is 1,450,000 francs each. This description is that furnished for the last-named boats alone, but it is believed to be practically correct for the others.

MISTRAL, SIROCCO, SIMOUN: LAUNCH, DESCRIPTION.-These sea-going torpedo boats of 180 tons have been launched; the Mistral at the works of A. Normand & Co., Havre, May 4; the Sirocco at the same yard February 20; and the Simoun at the Graville (Havre) yard of the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée March 25. They are believed to be similar in all essential respects. The dimensions are: Length, 155.6 feet; beam, 16.1 feet; draft, 8.5 feet; displacement, 180 tons. The engines are twin-screw, vertical, triple-expansion, designed to develop 4200 I. H. P. and give a speed of 26 knots. The armament consists of two 3-pounders and two torpedo tubes.

TORPEDO BOAT No. 242: LAUNCH.-This torpedo boat of 90 tons, 1800 I. H. P., and 24 knots speed, was launched at the Saigon Arsenal, April 20. It was to have been fitted with turbine motors and six screws, but perhaps the design was changed.

PIQUE, EPÉE: TRIALS.-Torpedo-boat destroyers of 313 tons displacement, designed for a speed of 26 knots with 5700 I. H. P. The Pique's first official trials took place in October last, but as the speed attained was only 24 knots, it was decided that new screws would be necessary before the required speed could be reached. In February she ran a trial of five hours duration, maintaining a speed of 22.25 knots with 268 revolutions of her engines, and for one hour a speed of 25.58 knots with 298 revolutions. The latter trial was interrupted on account of a hot guide, but she made another attempt in March, reaching 25.5 knots with 297 revolutions.

The Epée has had preliminary trials during which she reached a speed of 25.621 knots. Subsequently she made 19.15 knots with one group of boilers in use.

ALGÉRIEN: LAUNCH.-The submarine boat Algérien, a sister to the Français (partly described on page 157, PROCEEDINGS No. 97), was launched at the arsenal, Cherbourg, April 27. The armament consists of a torpedo tube forward and a launching apparatus on each, side. The cost is 760,000 francs.

SIRÈNE: LAUNCH, DESCRIPTION.-This submarine boat of the submergible type was launched at Cherbourg on May 4. She is the first of four to take the water; and her sisters, the Triton, Silure, and Espador, will follow shortly. This model is a development of the Narval type which it resembles closely. The Narval, as we know, consists of a tubeor fusiform shell-which forms the boat proper, and is strong enough to resist the pressure at very considerable depths. Surrounding this there is a second shell closely resembling in form the hull of an ordinary surface torpedo boat, but with fewer projections and irregularities in contour. The space between the two hulls is used for water ballast and when fully submerged is sufficiently open to the sea so that the external pressure is transmitted to the interior hull, while the exterior hull is kept without strain. The defects of the system as exemplified in the Narval are that the means of admitting water evenly and steadily are not sufficiently rapid and the submerging is further delayed by the change from steam propulsion to electric. The defects herein referred to render it impossible to submerge the Narval in less than 15 or 20 minutes-a wholly impermissible interval-but the new boats are expected to do better.

The Sirène has the following dimensions: Length, 111.55 feet; beam, 12.3 feet; draft when moving on the surface, 5.25 feet; displacement in this condition, 106 tons. The appearance when running on the surface is that of a rather low torpedo boat with vertical sides; a flat and very clear deck is slightly rounded at the sides to meet the side plating. A further description of the exterior is dispensed with as it is hoped to present the latest photographs of the Narval and other submarine boats in the next number of the PROCEEDINGS. The propelling machinery consists of a vertical, triple-expansion engine of 217 I. H. P., supplied with steam by a water-tube boiler, and gives a speed of 10 to 12 knots when running as an ordinary surface boat. In this condition the boat can charge the accumulators which she uses when running submerged. The radius of action under steam is 400 to 500 miles. The armament consists of four sets of 17.7-inch torpedo launching apparatus.

FARFADET: Launch, DimenSIONS, ETC.-The submarine boat Farfadet, of the improved Morse type, was launched at Rochefort arsenal on May 17. She was commenced September 27, 1899, and is the first of her class to be launched. The others are the Gnome, Lutin, and Korrigan. The plans are by M. Mangas. The dimensions are: Length, 135.67 feet; beam, 9.5 feet; maximum draft and depth amidships, 9.5 feet; displacement, 185 tons when submerged, and slightly less when running at the surface. Like their prototype, the Morse, the vessels of this class are very long and slender. The speed, either at the surface or submerged, is expected to be about 12 knots. There is a single screw worked by electric power furnished by accumulators which are charged in the port to which the vessel is attached, or by some ship. The radius of action is small-perhaps 50 miles at the most economical speed. There are four sets of apparatus for launching torpedoes. The complement consists of an officer and eight men.

VERON SUBMARINE BOAT.-Experiments were recently conducted at Marseilles, France, with a submarine model, the invention of a boilermaker named Victor Veron, employed in a private shipyard. The inventor was highly complimented by Admiral Besson who witnessed the tests.-Army & Navy Journal.