§ SIR EARDLEY WILMOTasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether he has had under his consideration any plan for the construction of the ram of an ironclad ship, so that it should be removable, when not actually required for purposes of war, or for its being covered in time of peace in such a manner as to render it less damaging in the event of a collision with another vessel?
§ MR. A. F. EGERTON, in reply, said, that the rams of the Inflexible, the Agamemnon, the Shannon, and other vessels of modern construction were so fitted that they could be removed and replaced. Any temporary covering, he might add, which might be placed on a ram must be destroyed in the event of a collision.