SHIP, ARMORED. The earliest plans for the building of armored steamships appear to have been made by John Stevens of New Jersey in 1812. The idea did not then take practical shape but it was developed by his son, Robert L., who secured acceptance by the United States Government of a plan for the con struction of an ironclad steamship in which all the machinery would be below the water-level. The keel was laid in 1854, but the French meanwhile produced the "Gloire," which, speedily followed by the sister ships "Invincible" and "Nor mandie," was the first ocean-going iron clad. In 1861 the United States provided for the building of the "Galena," "New Ironsides," and the famous "Monitor," each of which had distinctive features, which included inward-inclined sides, ram bows, retreating sterns, coverings of iron plate, and powerful batteries. The "Moni tor" was really a floating battery, unsafe at sea, and her usefulness was proved in the fight with the "Merrimac" in the Civil War. Progress from that time on was marked by a development that alter nated between the turret ship and the ship fitted for broadside fire from many guns. Italy, France, and Great Britain
built both turret ships and broadside and central battery ships, and in the seventies a definite return was made by Italy and Great Britain to the turret ship with thick armor, central citadel, and battery of heavy guns. The caliber of the auxil iary guns was increased till the British in 1906 finally evolved the dreadnaught. This new type involved a concentration of force which made many other vessels obsolete. Turbine engines were intro duced, the speed increased, and the prin ciple of single caliber guns was adopted in all the great navies. The first battle ship laid down in the United States was the "Texas" in 1889, and the improvement was uniform till the building of the "California" and "Oklahoma." The Brit ish super-dreacipaught "Queen Elizabeth" represented the utmost concentration of power during the World War, and its work in the Dardanelles in February, 1915, was an interesting exhibition of relative power between naval guns and land guns.