damage to the target, the ship herself sustained serious injury, eleven of the lower deck beams, with their knees being broken (six being broken completely across). The main keel immediately under the target was also opened at the scarf, and the back of the ship was apparently broken. The hull had given out laterally to such an extent as to prevent the ship being taken into dock. _Experiments at Portsmouth, England, 1876._--The object of the following experiments was to determine the effect of comparatively small charges of gunpowder and gun-cotton exploded in actual contact with an ironclad, as would be the case in a torpedo attack either with locomotive towing or spar torpedoes. Target:--the same as used in the experiments of 1874-5, which have been detailed at page 229, &c., viz., the _Oberon_ fitted to represent H.M.S. _Hercules_ without the armour. Her mean draught was 11', and she was moored in 26-1/2' of water. The _Oberon_ had been placed in a thorough state of repair. 1ST EXPERIMENT. Torpedo:--60 lbs. of gun-cotton in slabs, saturated with water. Total weight of charge 75 lbs. It was enclosed in a 1/4" iron case with cast iron ends. It was placed at 15' actual distance from the nearest side of the case to the target, and opposite No. 4 frame on the port side, 10' below the surface of the water. Effect of the explosion:--The effect upon the vessel was unappreciable. This charge represented the large Whitehead fish torpedo, and its position corresponded to that of this torpedo when striking a net at a small angle with the keel. 2ND EXPERIMENT. Torpedo:--The Harvey towing torpedo, charged with 66 lbs. of gunpowder, primed with gunpowder, and fired by means of an electric fuze. It was placed at 3' actual distance from the target, measuring from the centre of the torpedo, and opposite No. 4 solid frame on the starboard side, the vertical axis of the torpedo being at right angles to the vessel's side, 9-1/4' below the surface of the water. Effect of explosion:--This and the two following torpedoes were fired simultaneously. The outer bottom was blown in from the upper edge of the flat keel plate to the underside of the water-tight longitudinal, and fore and aft from No. 2 to No. 6 frames; an area 16' × 8-5/6'. Flat keel plates were broken between No. 2 and No. 4 frames, and the 4th strake of the bottom plating was broken, and the frames for that space blown in. Two holes were blown through the inner bottom, measuring respectively 2' × 2' and 7' × 1', making the total area of the inner bottom destroyed, 11 square feet. 3RD EXPERIMENT.