THE ITALIAN NAVY.

The fleet of which Italy could actually dispose at the beginning of last year was composed as follows: Fourteen armored ships, of which six were already armed and constituted the permanent squadron of the Mediterranean, four were ready to be armed at short notice, and four required considerable repairs before they could be sent to sea; seven gunboats, of which three were outside the Mediterranean, two armed and in the Mediterranean, and two ready to be armed; nine wooden frigates or corvettes, of which two were beyond the Mediterranean, three armed and in Italian ports, two capable of being armed in a few days, and two others requiring repairs; six dispatch-boats, of which three were armed, one of which could be ready for sea at short notice and two after a few weeks; six transports, of which the three largest were armed; and eighteen smaller vessels, of which one was on foreign service, three armed, and fourteen ready to be armed. These ships carry a total of 490 guns, of which thirty of those on the armored ships are of heavy caliber.

The changes and improvements in all branches of administration and industry during the past quarter of a century, and especially in mechanics, force themselves on the observation of one acquainted with Italian ports and cities in years past. The spirit of advancement and progress is seen to advantage in the reconstruction of the navy. So far has it been pushed here that the late minister of marine at Rome, when he took office, is said to have condemned as obsolete, and recommended the sale of no less than seven armored ships out of the total of fifteen, although some of these condemned vessels were quite new, because they did not reach the standard set up for modern fighting-vessels. I believe the plan has not as yet been carried out in its entirety, and probably will not be until after the more formidable ships now under construction shall have been completed.

THE DUILIO AND THE DANDOLO.

These two powerful armored sister-ships, the former building at Castellamare, and the latter at Spezia, in the Mediterranean, have been designed to outdo the British Inflexible and every other fighting-ship afloat. The Duilio was commenced at Castellamare in 1873, and launched in May of last year.

The general design as to the location of turrets is similar to that of the Inflexible, and although this vessel was commenced before the Inflexible, it is claimed by Mr. Reed, late chief constructor of the British navy, that the original conception belongs to him.

The length of the Duilio between perpendiculars is.. 339 feet 7 inches. Beam, extreme

Draught of water, average.

Height of main deck above water.

Height of battery...

Displacement in tons, English, at load-draught.....

64 feet 7 inches.

25 feet 11 inches.

11 feet 6 inches.

15 feet 9 inches.

10,650

The hull is built of iron and steel, on the cellular system. The double bottom extends for upward of 230 feet in length, and is divided both

longitudinally and transversely into a great number of water-tight compartments. Each compartment is provided with a branch-tube which is connected with one principal tube in communication with powerful steam-pumps. The tubes are, of course, fitted with the necessary valves, so that in the event of damage to the bottom of the vessel, or for any desirable purpose, any one or more of the compartments may be drained or filled with water. There is a central armored citadel or compartment, 107 feet in length and 58 feet in breadth, which descends to 5 feet 11 inches below the load water-line. It protects the machinery and boilers, the magazines and shell-rooms, and a portion of the machinery for working the turrets and guns. Forward and aft of this citadel, the decks, which are 4 feet 9 inches under water, are defended by horizontal armor. Over this citadel is built a second central armored compartment which incloses the bases of the turrets and the remaining portion of the mechanism employed in loading and working the guns. Lastly, above this second compartment rise the two turrets. The position of the tur rets in the Duilio was made the subject of a novel arrangement, and one which was tried for the first time in that vessel. They are placed at each end of the central armored citadel-not in an even line with each other, but diagonally at opposite corners of it, with the centers at the distance of 7 feet 8 inches from the longitudinal center-line of the vessel, so that one turret is on the starboard side and the other on the port side. The effect of this arrangement is to render possible the discharge of three guns simultaneously in a direction parallel with the keel. Only the central portion of the ship and the two turrets will be protected by vertical armor.

As regards the armor of the central portion of the vessel, the thickness of which at the water-line is to be 22 inches, it had not been de cided whether the plates should be made in one or two thicknesses; that was to depend on the results of comparative experiments made at Spezia by shots discharged by the 100-ton gun, and guns of 10 and 11. inch calibers, against targets constructed on four different systems of steel and iron from three manufacturers. The decks are protected by horizontal armor of iron and steel, the former being under the latter. The armor of the turrets will be composed of solid plates 19 inches in thickness, resting upon teak backing.

ARMAMENT.

The original intention was that the armament should be composed of two 60-ton guns in each turret; subsequently it was decided to employ 100-ton guns, and the opinion prevails that this decision was reached after the fact became known that the Inflexible would be armed with 81-ton guns. These 100-ton guns, four for each ship, are being manufactured by Sir William Armstrong, at the Elswick Works, Newcastleon-Tyne, England; the first one of the number having just been completed ready for shipment to Italy, to undergo the necessary experimental firing-tests, at the time of my visit to Elswick.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the construction of the gunthe heaviest and most powerful piece of ordnance in the world. It is built up according to the well-known Armstrong system, the inner barrel or tube being of steel, rifled with twenty-seven grooves, the spaces between which are nearly equal to the width of the grooves themselves. The rifling has an increasing pitch, commencing at the chamber with 1 in 150 calibers, and increased to 1 in 50 calibers. The depth of the grooves is inch throughout. The steel barrel is 31 feet 3 inches long, 6 inches