Some frigates were built to be paddle-propelled, one being the Terrible, twenty-one guns, which had engines of 800 h.p. The Valorous, the last of the type, was withdrawn in 1883.
Probably the most luxurious paddle-propelled steam frigate ever launched was the Faid Gihaad, whose sumptuous fittings were intended to gratify the taste for comfort, no less than the extravagant whims, of the then Pasha of Egypt. She carried on the upper deck two 84-pounder pivot guns and twelve 32-pounder broadside guns, and on the main deck fourteen guns of the latter type. Yet she was described as a yacht—of 2,200 tons. She was built by Mare and Co., of Blackwall, in 1852.
One drawback urged against all paddle-wheeled war vessels was that the deck space was seriously encroached upon, and that the paddle-boxes restricted the range of the guns. To get over this difficulty the sponsons were carried further forward and aft, before and abaft the paddle-boxes respectively, the deck-houses, which usually encumbered the sponsons, were removed, and the bulwarks were carried along the outer edge of the sponsons, thereby giving greater deck space; and as each sponson under this arrangement carried a gun, a vessel thus fitted had four more guns than was previously possible. Two of the guns had a range extending from abeam to right ahead, and two from abeam to right astern.
One vessel thus equipped in accordance with Scott Russell’s patent was the Dantzig, built by Robinson and Russell, at Millwall, for the Prussian navy. She was of 1,280 tons, with a deck length of 230 feet, and a draught of 15 feet; her paddle-wheels were of 24 feet 4 inches diameter. Her dimensions, no less than the arrangement of her armament, attracted widespread attention. She distinguished herself against the Riffs in 1856.
The Admiralty ordered, in 1843, its first screw steamer, the Rattler, a sloop of war of 1,078 tons displacement. She had engines of 437 indicated h.p., and of the type known as Maudslay’s Siamese, spur gearing increasing the revolutions of the screw to four times those of the crank. These engines derived their curious name because of their double cylinders, the arrangement having been patented some years before by Messrs. Maudslay and Field, to enable a long cylinder to be fitted in a paddle ship where the height is limited.
When there was so much difference of opinion among those passing as experts as to the respective merits of the paddle-wheel steamer and the steamer driven by a screw propeller, the Admiralty decided to settle the controversy by pitting representative vessels against each other and noting the result.
Accordingly the Rattler was selected to champion the screw, and the Alecto the paddle-wheel.
THE TRIAL OF SCREW v. PADDLE—H.M. SLOOPS “RATTLER” AND “ALECTO” TOWING STERN AND STERN.
The Alecto was a paddle sloop, driven by direct acting engines, but otherwise was a very similar vessel to her screw rival. The two vessels were fastened stern to stern, and ordered to steam ahead. The screw steamer won the novel tug of war, the Alecto being towed stern foremost. This remarkable encounter took place in the North Sea, on April 3rd, 1845, in calm weather. A more important tug of war was that on June 20th, 1849, when the screw corvette Niger was pitted against the paddle sloop Basilisk in the Channel, and again the screw boat was victorious.