The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-13 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence,

Hamoaze, the inner harbour of the port of Portsmouth, is
one of the rafest and most capacious in Great Britain. It
is over three nautical miles long, and has an average width

of deep water for about three quarters of a mile, and yet for
mercantile or even naval purposes its navigation is both
difficult and dangerous, being constantly occupied by a
numerous and incongruous fleet of active;passive, and obse-
lete ships of war. Formerly merchant vessels might find
sea room for sailing on one side or the other ; latterly both
sides are used for the accommodation of gun and mortar
boats, and it therefore becomes absolutely necessary for
these vessels to employ steam tugs, which with their convoy

may be able to find a passage if the streams run up or
down true, but when it is high tide or slack water, or when

freshets prevail, the passage is fouled by the long ships of
war, which boing caught by contrary currents, swing about
in different directions, and completely chock the navigation.

The bed of the harbour is equally inconvenient to merchant
vessels, for if one should be unfortunately compelled to drop
her anchor, it is very likely to catch in the numerous chain
moorings laid across'the stream, and it is contrary to Admi-
miralty regulations for a merchant master, himself to adopt

measures to free his anchor. The fleet in Hamoan consists

chicily of the Steam Reserve, which is classed in four divi-
sions. In the first division there are the Donegal, 81, the
Constance, 39, the Ocean and the Caledonia, 35, both iron
cased, the Doris, 30, the Zealous, 20, ironcased, the Gannet,
17, the Mogsora, 6, iron troop ship, converting into a store•
ship, the Sphynx, 6, paddle, the Espoir, 5, and the gunboats
Ripple, Tilbury, .Fervent, Dapper, and Clinker. In the

second division the Windsor Castle, 97, the Royal William,
78, the Royal Albert, 76, and the Brunswick, 68. In the
third the Howe, 107, the Defiance, 81, the Renown, 81, the
St. Jean d'Acre, 81, the James Watt, 79, the London, 78, the
Nile, 78, the Exmouth, 76, the Sanspareil. 70, Centurion,
68, the Russell, 60, the Topaze, 39, the Encounter. 21, the
Desperate, 8, the Intrepid, 6, the mortar vessels Forth and
Seahorse, and the Snake, the Violet, the Skipjack, the Jack-

daw, and the Seagull ; and, in the fourth division, the Ajax

GO ; the Hogue, GO ; the Centaur, 6 (paddle) ; and the Rain.

bow. Among the Steam Reserve there is a very large ma.

jority of ship; which, from the nature of their build, are not
adapted for modern warfare. The three-decked wooden ship
Windsor Castle, 97 guns nominal, 3,101 tons, launched at
Pembroke on the 24th of August, 1858, and supplied with

superior engines, has never been to sea, and never will in
her present state, although built so recently. She may be
cut down and iron-plated, like the Caledonia. Another
wooden ship, the Howe, 107 guns, 4,245 tons, launched at
Pembroke on the 7th of March 1860, and considered much
superior to the Windsor Castle, may also be cut down ; and
several other ships will, unless otherwise disposed of, re-
quire expensive modification or reconstruction. Many of the
oiler wooden ships are becoming unfit for any duty. The
Russell, Hogue, and Ajax will neither steam nor sail ; their
machinery is complicated and useless, and their hulls are
detenceless against modern artillery. The Majestic, Centu-
rion, and Brunswick may do for coastguard ships, but not

active warfare. The Furth and Seahorse are scarcely avail-
able as mortar ships now ; perhaps, like the Fox, they will
he appropriated for the transport of stores and machinery.
It is understood that the Lords of the Admiralty are desir-

ous of selling the paddlewheel steam sloops Centaur,
1,270 tons. Anmeg the sailing ships are the Amphitrite, 44
—Arachne, 18—Atalanta, 16—Cambrian, 40—Cambridge,
44—Canopus, 41— Cerberue, 42—Circe, 42—Creole, 26
Flora, 40 —Foudroyant, 78—Grecian, 12—Hamadryad, 42
—lmpregnable, 78— Indefatigable, 50—. Indus, 78—King-
fisher, 12—Leda, 44—Liberty, 12—Martin, 12—Nautilus,
6—Nemesis, 44—Pique, 40—Royal Adelaide, 78—Squirrel
12—Stag, 44—and Sybite, 40. Some of these aro applied to
useful purposes ; the Royal Adelaide carries the post admi-
ral's flag, and receives seamen for active service; the Indus
bears the admiral superintendent's flag, and is a depot for
engineers, stokers, and pensioners; the Cambridge is used
by seamen gunners, the Canopus for disposable seamen, and
the Impregnable, Implacable, and the two brigs Martin and
Squirrel are floating schools for training boys for the sea.
All the obsolete sailing ships, and many of the steam fleet
in Hamoers, are termed ships in ordinary, and every one
involves a constant expense for caulking, repairing, and
painting. In addition to the engineers in charge of the me.
chinery on board steamers, each line of battle ship in ordi-
nary has two warrant officers, three men and a boy to take
care of her ; every frigate has two men, and most of the
smaller vessels have one man, with a warrant officer in
every third ship. The sailing frigates Hamadryad, Cerbarus
and Stag have each a lieutenant. Whatever difficulty may
exist regarding the disposition of some ships propelled by
steam, there cannot be much doubt about the propriety of
selling or breaking ap the non-effective ships, which not
.only obstruct the navigation, but involve the constant ex-
pense of ship-keepers and occasional cut vet's by the officers
of Devonport dockyard, who,with their assistants, necessarily
expend some time on board, and bore holes with small
augurs in all directions to ascertain the condition of the
timber. When it is determined at Whitehall to sell a chip,
the course usually observed is to publish her name, with an
inventory of her stores, and to wait far tenders which are
sent there. If the price offered approach the valuation of
the dockyard surveyor, the ship is sold. Occasionally the
offer is increased two or three times before a sale is con-
cluded. The proper disposal of useless ships of war has
long been a difficult problem for solution by the successive
Lords of the Admiralty. The necessity for preventing them
from falling into the possession of unfriendly nations in
their perfect state is the principal obstacle. Breaking up
wooden ships in naval arsenals is found to be a most costly
process It is said that the charge fur haulage and for stack-
ing the topeidea of the Royal Sovereign, recently cut down
in Portsmouth D sckyard, was more than the value of the
timber when stacked. Oa the other hand, the prices given
by professional shipbreakers, 30s or 40s per ton, bears ap-
parently an =air relation to the original cost of the ships,
£2O or .DlO per ton. But, although the timber may be per-
fect, a merchant ship built of it is not classed for more tnan
six years by the Committee of Lloyds, who allow 12 or 13
years for new timber. The period is in some measure re-
stricted by the number and large size of the trenail and bolt
holes- in the old timber, and the difficulty in cutting it
without considerably reducing its strength. All market
copper found in the old ships is returnable to the Go-
vernment, and is paid fur at the current market price.
Within the last three or four years the Lords of the Ad-
miralty have sold from Hamoeze the sailing ships Lan-
caster, 1,478 tons ; Armada, 1,749 ; Lively and Druid,
1,080; Pallas, 951; Pilot, 455; Pandora, Express, Petrel,
an'l Crane, 360; Lapwing, 223; the gunboats Arrow,
Lynx, -Viper, and Partridge, 477 ; the paddle-wheel vessel
Avon, 361; the Medusa, 3 guns; the Heels, 6; and the
sailing ships Andromeda, 41 guns ; Proserpine, 44 ; and
Cadmus, 12. The Prolerpine was 30 years old, and had
never been to sea. The engines were removed from
the Partridge before the sale. Their Lordships intend
to dispose of the Grecian. built in 1833 ; the Heroine, 1841;
the Nautilus, 1830; the 'Vigo, 1810; the Endymion, 1797;
the Bellona, 1812; the Egeria, 1807 ; the Jupiter, 3813;
the Bacchus, 1813; the Linnet, 1835 ; the Arachne, 1827 ;
the Circe, 1827; the Nemesis, 18`26; the Lavinia, 1806,
and six mortar vessels. These ships are roughly estimated
to be worth less than £50,000. It is understood that for
the Sybilla £5,000 has been refused. While we are writing
it is rumoured that their Lordships contemplate offering to
contractors the privilege of breaking up ships-sf- war in
private yards under the supervision of Government inspec-
tors. It is to be hoped that they will speedily adopt this or
some other vigorous course for realising the value of a
perishing stock. The cost of its maintenance will at once
be saved, and in the port of Plymouth considerable relief
will be given to the important agricultural and mining
traffic carried through the estuary of Hamoaz) from its tri-
butary rivers—the Tamar, Lynher, and Tavy.
Her Majesty's screw troopships Himalaya and Vulcan
are hourly expected to arrive at Spithead with troops on
board the Himalaya from Canada and the Vulcan from
China and the Cape of Good Hope.
A Portuguese war corvette sailed on Saturday from the
Motherbank, off Ryde, Isle of Wight, for the westward,
Rear-Admiral R. S. Robinson, Controller of the Navy, is
expected to embark this morning at Portsmouth on board
the Admiralty paddle yacht Enchantress, Staff •Commander
Petley, which will immediately afterwards sail for the
Mediterranean station. Rear-Admiral Robinson will pro-
bably disembark from the yacht at Malta, the Enchantress
then proceeding to Marseilles to receive other members of
the Board, who have travelled by the overland route, and
who will join the Controller at Malta.
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com-
pany's steamship Poonah arrived at Portsmouth on Friday
from Southampton, and was docked in tho Warder dock of
her Majesty's dockyard to repair damages to her four-
bladed screw. She was undocked again on Saturday and
left Portsmouth for Southampton.
The Imperial French naval cadet training corvettes Le
Boujainville, Capt. Nourry, and Le Chasseur, Commander
Cany, sailed from Spithead on Saturday in continuation of
their cruise of instruction.
Capt. Rice, of the screw steamship St. George, 72, hav-
ing completed his survey of Coastguard stations in the
gunboat Hind, left Plymouth on Saturday for head quar-
ters at Falmouth,
Tho establishment of the Davenport dockyard is to be
made up to 2,200 men; several artisans in various depart-
ments will bo entered shortly.
The paddlewheel ateamsloop Geyser, 6, Com. Arthur A.
Thrupp, is having defects made good in Plymouth Sound.
A considerable number of the hands hitherto employed
on board the ironclad frigate Achilles, 20, 1,250 horse
power, completing for seaat Chatham, have been withdrawn
from that vessel, and placed on the other ships building and
fitting, in consequence of most of the works in the way of
fitting, &c., on board the Achilles being now completed.
During the last few days the Achilles has been visited, by
special permission of the Admiralty, by Mr King, the head
of the engineering department of the United States Navy,
who spent a considerable time on board the frigate, over
which ho was conducted by the principal officers of the
yard; At the termination of his visit Mr King expressed
his unqualified admiration of everything he had witnessed
on board the Achilles, and frankly admitted that there was
no vessel of the same class or description in the Federal
navy which would bear comparison with her, while in the
opinion of this gentleman she even surpassed the ironclads
Minotaur, Agincourt, and Northumberland, all of which ho
had inspected. Such disinterested testimony as that given
by Mr King is the more valuable when it is IQmou:bacd