The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 24, .186 C

rattlesnake's head," and a string of violent speeches,
of the true Western style and brimful of words that
are not ordinarily mentioned to ears polite, were
made to the crowd. The proceedings lasted from
8 o'clock till half.past 11, when the Baltimore Con.
vention became a thing of the past. The inhabi-
tants declare that it wan the tamest and most spirit-
less convention ever held in the city. This morn-
ing the streets have resumed their normal appear-
ance, the delegates have departed, the bands are
silent, the voice of Buncombe is heard no more in
the land, and once again the attention of everybody
who has a thought to spare from business is directed
to the battle-fields of Virginia, and to the great
events that are there to be decided—events that
may make an end of Mr. Lincoln as a public man,
end render his convention as idle as the silliest
speech that was made in it.

the machinery of a railway turntable. Here it will be seen
at once is a non-exposure of surface to shot and a support
and distribution of weight which the American Monitora
do not possess—on the contrary, they possess its weakest
opposites. In the American Monitors the port stoppers (to
protect the crew when loading the gun) are of iron, and
swing upon an iron pivot. In the Royal Sovereign they
are massive rope mantelets (after the fashion taught us by
the Russians at Sebastopol), with cable grummets work, d
sailor-fashion round the gun inside the port, sufficiently
strong to keep any rifle ball or sprinters from large pro-
jectiles or shells from entering the port. In the American
vessels the guns have no breeching, but trust entirely to
a powerful compressor. The Royal Sovereign's gun-
carriages, on the contrary, have not only powerful com-
pressors, but they have, as all guns at sea should
have, good breechings, with carriages working on in-
clined planes with great friction. To make this part of our
report as clear as possible to the general reader we will here
describe the interior of the turrets, the monster guns with
which they are armed, and the appliances for working them.
The ship's armament consists of live guns, generally known
as the 12/-ton gun, or 300. pounder. The gun's diameter of
bore is 101 in, and had they been rifled they Wriald have been
.r.J
300-pounders, but as they have I been rifled they can
only throw Isolb spherical shtt, with a 401 b charge of pow-
der. What the effect of the Royal Sovereign's concentrated
five guns' delivery of steel shot, fired with 501 b charges,
woilll9lb4eanstdata
upon the side of an opposing ironclad would be May be pretty
fairly estimated by the fate of the Lord Warden target in
the recent experimental firing at Shoeburyness. Two guns
are mounted in the forenseat turret, and one in each of the
other three turrets, From the plane of the table on which
clear
itnurtarreitornhmei
stationed
e wh sufficientlyen
the spaciousgu ns
af
ro
er
the guns and their carriages rest, the turrets have each a
the crew to move about in and work the guns, In the fore-
genht
most
manned—that is, six men to each gun, with a captain or di-
rector of the turret. In the three single gun turrets 9 men
will be stationed—eight men to work the gun and the cap-
tain of turret. In the
-.rat Sovereign the old title of " cap-
tain of the gun" '
superseded by "captain of the turret,"
for the giro-
objee‘
-a are not sighted, nor are they trained upon an
properly speaking; for the sights are fixed upon the
top of the turret, and the turret itself by its revolving is
trained upon the object, and hence the new neeignation,
" captain of the turret." The guns work on a massive plat-
form, having an incline of 4 degrees, thus greatly checking
the recoil, which is about 6 ft, and on reaching which the
gun is held there by a powerful pant to enable the crew to
re-load it, for which purpose there is ample room between
the muzzle of the gun and the turret's port. The shot is
whipped up from the deck below by an ingenious contri-
vance and carried in :6 shot beater to the gun's mouth,
where all the loaders have to do is to force it down upon
the charge. When the gun is loaded, one man releases it
from the paul and runs it out on the inclined plane. The
captain then gives the cirections for training the turret, and
for elevating or depressing the guns preparatory to firing.
Two men elevate and depress each of these heavy pieces
without having to go in the rear or behind the gun or car-
riage. Two of the guns are fitted with the means of eleva-
tion and depression on Lieutenant Roche's principle, and
the remaining three on what is termed the Ordnance plan,
which, however, it is only just to say is simply a modifica-
tion of Lieutenant Rothe's plan. The guns with their
carriages and the turrets in which they are mounted appear
to have been rendered as complete as possible in all details,
even the men's cutlasses and revolvers, with the spare gun
breechings and other gear, being all stowed away and to
hand in the interstices of the turret : but to the turrets and
their guns we intend to refer at much greater length when
they have gone through the trial it is intended to subject
them to, when the guns will be fired under similar con-
ditions to what must occur during an actual engagement
either with a ship or fort. In the official reports made by
the commanders of the American turret vessels in defence
of their failing m their attacks upon Charleston. we find
the cause of their failt.re clearly stated to arise from
circumstances which could not occur on board the Royal
Sovereign. Thus the Passaic's turret was jammed by a
broken portion of the brass ring at its base. The Nantucket's
turret was jammed by nuts and boltheads falling under the
base. The Weehawken's turret revolved with difficulty
owing to a shot having struck the pilot-house on its top and
bent the central spindle; the Nahant's turret refused to
turn and became jammed from the effects of two blows from
shot about the composbion ring at the base of ihe pilot-
house. The Nantucket's gun was rendered useless by the
j emming of her port-stopper by a shot indentation, -and on
another occasion her llin gun was disabled from the
carriage not having been properly compressed, Now, it
reference is made to oar description of the Royal Sove-
reign's turrets, it will be seen that no shot can strike
their base as with the Passaic; that no boltheads or nuts
could stop their revolving as with the Nantucket, nor could
any number of blows on the pilot-house affect the turrets in
any way as with the Weehawken, from the fact of the Royal
Sovereign's pilot-house being an independent structure—
nor would her ports bec.rme blocked up by the jamming of
iron port-stoppers, because the more sensible plan of rope
mantelets has been adopted in her case—nor could her gun
carriages become disabled owing to the serious fault of hav-
ing only cne means of control over their movement. We
think the comparison has thus been pursued sufficiently far
to make clear the main differences existing between our
turret ship Royal Sovereign and the turret ships belonging
to foreign Powers, and also the vast superiority, excepting
in her draught of water, of our own turret ship over the
laminated armour turret vessels of the American and Rus-
sian navies, and we shall low proceed to narrate the events
of yesterday's trial, preen sing that the Royal Sovereign
now figures in the , fficial Navy Lige as an iron cased cupola
ehtp of 3,963 tons, driven 'by engines of 800 horse power (by
Mandalay, Sons, and Fiell;, driving a common two-bladed
screw of- 18ft diameter, and her length is 250 ft, and her ex-
treme breadth 631 t.
The Controller of the Navy arrived at Portsmouth by the
first train from London yesterday morning, and immediately
proceeded to the doe.; yardand on board the Royal Sovereien
—which was lying with steam up in readiness. Admiral
Sir Michael Seymour, G C.B. (Port Admiral and Naval

Commander-in-Chiel), Rear Admiral George Elliot (Super-
intendent of Portsmou'h Dockyard), and Rear Admiral S.
C. Mores, C. 8., accompanied Rear Admiral Robinson on
board the ship, where a large number of other naval officers
were assembled to witness the trial, including Captain
Hall, R.N., private secretary to the Duke of Simerset ;
Captain Sh'rard Osborn, C. 8., the future captain of the
ship; Captains A. A. Cochrane, C,8., G. P. Hornby, C.B ,
A. Phillimore Preedy, C.B , and H. Wills, of the Channel
fleet ; J. B. Dickson, of the Irresistible, screw liner; Com-
mander Simpson of the Victoria and Albert R yal yacht,
and others. Mr. Evans, from the Hydrographer's Depart-
ment at the Admiralty, was also present, regarding the
ship's compasses. Captain H. Caldwell, C. 8., commanding
her Majesty's ship Asia and the steam reserve, at Potts•
mouth, was in command, and conducted the day's trials.
The Royal Sovereign steamed out of harbour for Spithead

immediately Admiral Robinson came on board, her draught
of water being 211 t 2in forward, and 24it 10in aft, her ton-
sides (not measuring her iron bulwarks, but from the top
of her side armour plating to the water-line) being 7tt Gin
out of water amidships. Her engines were kept at slow
steam was put on and the ship put through her runs at the
int asured mile with full and half boiler power. At full
power the engines made 52 revolutions per minute, and the
true mean speed of four runs was 11.006 knots per hour.
At half power two runs were made, the engines giving 421
revolutions, the mean speed being B'l7l knots. In the most
successful trial the ship made as an unmasted three-decker
just fitted with her new machinery she realised with full-
boiler power a speed of 12'252 knots, but it was a calm, and
her draught of water was only 18ft Bin forward and 21st Pin
aft. This gives an increased immersion of the ship yester-
terday of fully 31t, and the ship had also to contend against
a strong westerly breeze, whereas on her three-decker trial
it was a calm. Allowing, therefore, for the ship's increased
immersion, and the difference in the weather, the difference
in the ship's speed is satisfactorily accounted for, although
an additional half knot might have been attained, but for
the defective draught in the fires, which only admitted of
an average pressure of 171 b of steam being obtained instead
of full 201 b. This defect will, however, boat once remedied
by lengthening the funnel left. the ship has been cut
down, and the funnel has also been cut down until it has a
preposterously short length from its top to the top of the
fire•gate. It is a matter easily remedied, and the ship will
then obtain abundance of steam from the boilers for the
service of her engines.
The ship was next tested in making
circles, to ascertain
her turning powers, with full and half boiler power, with
results as follows :

Full-power.---To port, with ordinary whoa on dock.—
Helm got up in 1 min, to an angle of rudder of 161 deg.
The half circle made in 3 min 21 sec, and the full circle
in 6 min 35 sec. Revolutions of engines 52 to 49. To star-
board—Helm got up in 50 sec, with an angle of rudder 201
deg. The half circle made in 3 min 30 sec and the full circle
in 6 min 51 sec. Revolutions of engines as before.
Half-power, with ordinary wheel on deck— To starboard
—Helm got up in 1 min 30 see, with the rudder to an angle
of 24 deg. The half circle made in 4 min 9 sec, and the full
circle in 7 min 31 sec. Revolutions of engines 33 to 36.

_..„.
Half-power, with pilot-house whecl, which is fitted with
multiplying power—To port—Helm up in 1 min 30 sec, with
the rudder at an angle of 401 deg. The half circle made in
3 non 8 sec, and fulk circle in 6 min 4 sec. To starboard—
Helm up in 1 min 10 sec, with the rudder at an angle of 39
deg. The half circle made in 3 min 16 roc, and the full
circle in 6 min 34 sec. The revolutions of the engines were
in both instances from 38 to 26. There is a remarkable dif-
ference shown here in the angles of the rudder obtained with
the two wheels, being no less than 404 deg by the pilot-
house wheal against 161 deg obtained by the ordinary wheel
on desk. The diameter of the circle made by the ship was
much less with the pilot-house wheel in use than it was
with the deck-wheel in use.

The temperatures were—during the first run at the tufa.
sured mile—on deck 61 deg ; engine room, forward, 66 deg,
aft, 67 deg; stoke hole, fore part, 108 deg., middle, 102 deg,
after part, 72 deg; 4th run at the measured mile—on th.ek,
66 deg, angina room, forward, 68 deg, after part, 72 deg.
Stoke hole, fore part, 108 deg, middle 112 dog, after part,
81 deg.

This concluded the trial of the ship at the measured
mile, wt ,en, in consequence of the lateness of the tide, she
was steel red back into Portsmouth harbour, and moored in
her old position alongside the dockyard, which she will

most probably lea'e again to-day to met the working of
her s.tithors and chains. The most interesting portion
of her trials, however, will be her run outside the Isle of
Wight, and the firing of !her guns in different positions,
and there is every reason to helie+,e this trial will prove to
be quite as setiefastor'y as the speed trial of yesterday: The
chit; was very steady, and very little movement of any kind
was felt when racing over the course at the mile, except a
slight lateral movement in her turrets. Any recurrence of
a sib ilar accident to that which occurred on her late prelia
minary trial trip has been proVided against as far as possible
by fitting expansion joints, Sic., to her stop-valve boxes, but
the real value of these remedial measures can only be tested
in moderately rough weather off the Wight. The ventila-
tion of the mess and berthing deck of the ship yesterday
appeared to be perfect, and there was also plenty of light.
The officers' cabins are unusually lofty (gained from the
arched deck), and they also have abundance of light. The
ship's framing is ventilated on the plan of Staff-Surgeon
Edmonds of her Majesty's ship Victory, and on measuring
yesterday the etrength of the current of air that was passing
ttp from the vessel's hold and bilges by the air shafting into
the ship's funnel it was found to be moving at the rate of
31ift per second, equal to 225,000 cubic feet per hour.
During the time the ship was making her full boiler
power runs et the mile Admiral Robinson, with Admirals
Sir M. Seymour, Elliot, and Dacres, entered the third
turret and examined its sights for training and its general
fittings, together with the 150-pounder gun and its system
of elevation and depression—the different points of interest
being pointed out and explained by Captain Cowper P.
Coles, R.N.

It is a remarkable fact that these monster guns of the
Royal Sovereign attain an amount of elevation such as can
be given to no other covered gun in the navy-18 deg.
The Royal Sovereign has so far, ae we said at the coraa
mencement of this report, proved a great success. She is
without doubt the most formidable ironclad afloat, provided
she has water of sufficient depth to manoeuvre in, and we
think the country may rest satisfied that, under the com-
mand of so distinguished an officer as Captain Sherard Os-
born, if she should ever be brought under fire, she will do
honour to the British sag.