=Source.=--_The Times_, December 29, 1860.
From the yard of the Thames Iron Shipbuilding Company will this day
be launched the first armour-plated steam frigate in the possession
of Britain. The dimensions of the _Warrior_ are, extreme length over
all, 420 feet; ditto breadth, 58 feet; depth from spar deck to keel,
41 feet 6 inches. Her tonnage is no less than 6,177 tons builders’
measurement. The engines have just been completed by Messrs. Penn and
Sons. They are of 1,250 nominal horse-power, and are probably the
most magnificent specimens of machinery that ever left even Mr. Penn’s
celebrated works. Their total weight with boilers will be 950 tons,
and for these the _Warrior_ is only able to stow 950 tons of coal, or
little more than enough for six days’ steaming. The armament, reckoning
her as a 50-gun frigate, will weigh from 1,200 to 1,500 tons, or about
the weight of the hull of the _Great Eastern_ when launched. With the
fine lines, great length, and immense horse-power of the _Warrior_, a
speed of not less than 14 knots is counted upon as certain. One row of
the armour-plates with which the greater part of the broadside will
hereafter be covered is already in its place, covering a space of 5
feet deep by 213 feet long on either side. Only the lowest row has been
thus bolted, and more than this it would be unwise to place, as the
immense weight might strain the ship during the launch. The others will
be bolted in her piece by piece while in the Victoria Dock.
=Source.=--_The Times_, Monday, December 31, 1860.
This formidable ironclad frigate (the _Warrior_), the largest
man-of-war ever built, was safely launched into the river on Saturday.