The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-27 00:00:00

THE WEST INDIA STEAM-SHIPS. I
A TRIAL 'MIT'.
SOUTHAMPTON, J. 25 —Tins Royal Mail steam-
ship Orinoco, W. Allan acting commander, arrived
from the Thames this afternoon, having left Black-
wall on Friday, shortly after noon.
The Orinoco is the second ship of the new West
India line, of which the unfortunate Amazon was the
pioneer, and, although a sister vessel, and resembling j
in size and in some other particulars the ill-fated 1
Amazon, yet this steamer has not been built, nor her
engines constructed, by the same parties.
The Amazon was built by Messrs. Green, and the
machinery supplied by Messrs. Seaward and Capel,
while the Orinoco was built at Northfleet (in corn •
puny with the Magdalena, the third vessel of the same
class for the West India service) by Mr. Pitcher, and
the engines are from the celebrated factory of Messrs.
Maudslay, Sons, and Field.
Considerable interest will no doubt be attached by
the public, not only to the performances of the Ori-
noco, but of the whole of the succeeding vessels of the
class, and the particulars of their arrangement and
equipment will be watched with much anxiety, the
loss of the Amazon by fire, not long since, having
drawn a great share of attention to the details and
management of the important line of steam navigation
to be fulfilled by these noble and beautiful ships.
The following gentlemen accompanied the Orinoco
on her voyage to Southampton—Captain C. E. Man-
gles, the managing director of the Royal Mail Steam
Company ; Mr. George Mills, the chief engineer of
the company ; Lieutenant A. S. Austin, R.N., ap-
pointed by the company to superintend the trials;
Mr. Henry Pitcher; Mr. Maudslay, sen., and his two
sons; Mr. Hughes, the Government engineer; Cap-
tain Hood, R.N.; and other gentlemen interested in
steam navigation. Mr. Waterman, the Admiralty
surveyor, left the ship at Gravesend.
The Orinoco was temporarily commanded by Cap-
tain W. Allan, a gentleman of great experience and
intelligence in the West Indian steam service, who
surrenders the ship at Southampten to her future
captain, Lieutenant G. M. Chapman, R.N., late of
the Tay, and proceeds himself to the Clyde, to su-
perintend the equipment of the Parana and Magda-
lena, the remaining two new ships of this line.
It is melancholy to reflect that the unfortunate
Captain Symons was destined to command the
Orinoco, and only took charge of the Amazon in
consequence of Captain Chapman not having arrived
home from the Brazils in time.
Before giving an account of the performances of
the Orinoco and her admirable behaviour in a tre-
mendous gale which she encountered in the Channel
during the whole of Saturday night, a short descrip-
tion of the vessel is necessary.
Externally, the Orinoco very much resembles the
Amazon, her great length, lofty rig, immense spread
of canvas, and low funnels, giving her the appearance
of a steam-frigate of the largest class, and not of a
mere merchant steamer. Great Britain has just reason
to be proud of the energy and enterprise of great
commercial associations like the Royal Mail and other
great steam-packet companies, which can build and
employ steam-ships of this class. Although adapted
for the peaceful business of conveying mails, passen-
gers, and cargo, yet the sterner necessities of war
have not been forgotten or lost sight of, and in the
event of hostilities, these ships, when supplied with
the armament which they are designed and able to
carry, would be converted into gigantic and powerful
steamers of war, formidable, not alone for the heavy
guns they would be able to use, but for the great
speed they can attain, a speed superior to that of any
steam-ships of war in the British, French, or Arne
rican navies. Tne Orinoco has, therefore, been pro-
nounced capable of carrying 26 gun?, four of which,
on the main deck, might be 10-inch Paixhan long-
range guns, of the heaviest size; the remainder short 32
or 24 pounders, as the case may be. Upon an emer-
gency, a couple of long 68-pounders, on traversing
slide carriages, might be fitted to the spar deck, if
that deck were temporarily strengthened by a few
additional supports for that purpose.
The dimensions of this noble ship are as follows :
Length between the perpendiculars, 270 feet; length
over all (figure head to taffrail), 301 feet ; length on
spar deck, 2764 feet ; breadth from out to out of
paddle-boxes, 71 feet 10 inches ; extreme breadth, 41
feet 10 inches; ditto for tonnage to a six-inch bottom,
414 feet; breadth moulded, 401 feet, depth of engine-
room at shaft, 26 feet 1 inch ; depth from under side
of spar deck, 334 feet ; burden in tons, builder's
measurement, 2,245 31-94 tbs.
The Orinoco, like the Amazon, has nine boats, four
of which are Lamb's patent lifeboats, 30 feet long
and 8 feet wide, and calculated to carry 32 persons
each. Two are swung forward over the fore sponson,
and two over the aft sponson. There are also two
large cutters, 27 feet long with 8 feet beam, each boat
calculated to carry 35 persons, and pulled by 12 oars
each. Besides this there is one mail boat, 22 feet
long, 6 feet beam, able to carry 18 people ; a gig, 25
feet long, 5 feet beam, able to contain 10 persons ;
and a dingy (rather larger than that supplied to the
Amazon), being 17 feet long and .54 feet wide, and
calculated to carry eight or nine people. These nine
boats would be sufficient to provide for the safety of
234 persons. •
As it appears that the Orinoco has accommodation
(that is, bed berths for 146 passengers), and as it is
very rare that so large a number are carried by these
vessels at one time, and as the crew, comprising
gisenperroavlliyded
with
officers, engineers, stewards, servants, stokers, seamen,
csooualls-,triitrnfonlileor:,santdhaotthtehres,swhiipll
accommodation for the largest number of persons
number 105
likely to be ever on board at one time. We are,
boat
however, assured that on an emergency the lifeboats
and cutters would be capable (supposing they were
safely got into the water) of containing a much
larger number of people than that mentioned above,
and Captain Allan, as well as Mr. H. Pitcher, is of
opinion that 300 people in fair weather could be sent
away from the ship in nine boats. We may remark
here that in the securing of the Orinoco's boats the
iron crutches, so much objected to in the Amazon,
have been omitted. During the run round an experi-
ment was made with the forward starboard lifeboats,
particularly with a view to ascertain how quickly
these boats might be cast loose and go clear of the
sponson. The operation was performed in less than
three minutes from the time the men were called on
deck, unexpectedly and without previous notice, to
make the attempt.
The Orinoco is propelled by two engines made by
Messrs. Maudslay, Sons, and Field, of London, which
are of the nominal aggregate power of 800 horses.
These engines are on the patent double cylinder direct
acting principle, and embrace all the most recent im-
provements applied to marine steam machinery. Each
of the four cylinders are of 68 inches diameter, and
calculating the surface area of the pistons, are sup-
posed to be equal to two 98-inch cylinders such as are
supplied to the ordinary side level marine engines ;
and the boilers are eight in number, each boiler hav-
ing three furnaces, and possess an aggregate evapo-
rating power of 9,000 gallons of water per hour; the
paddle-wheels, 40 feet in diameter, are fitted with the
patent feathering floats, which have been found so
efficient and successful in their operation when ap-
plied to other steamers of this line. The whole of the
machinery performed most admirably throughout the
run from the Thames, and the bearings, which are ge-
nerally found to heat during the first trials of steam
machinery, remained perfectly cool. It is almost
needless to say that the Orinoco's engines were gene-
rally admired, not only for the finish and beauty of the
workmanship bestowed on them, but for the general
perfection of their arrangements, and for the smooth-
ness and freedom from all unpleasant motion and vi-
bration, even when the ship was steaming at full
power against a heavy head sea and in a gale of wind.
The ventilation of the engine-room has also been so
carefully provided for, that the temperature was most
pleasant, compared with the high temperature of the
engine department in many, and, indeed, most other
steam-vessels. We may also add, that from the time
of getting under weigh at the Nore until arriving at
Southampton Water the engines were not stopped
for a single moment, excepting to take a pilot off the
Nab, and on another occasion to re-adjust one of the
ood
ti
dioelened;sg:
isßt and,paetne
racicetahelw; Twotoeagnsda-
v_ e
au resultb
paddle-floats.
th
m
having
17 feet 6 inches ; when leavingt Blackwelldthat with
Draught of water aft, 17 feet 9 inches ; forward,
400 tons of coals on board. It is calculated
stores all
1,000 tons of coals, and with cargoe aan
water of 21 feet on an even keel.
The for sea, the Orinoco will have
elfitted in a lead tank,
The magazine of the ship
i be immediately flooded
and may, in the event of fire,d.n
from the spar deck.
draught of
gßlackwall at 1.30 P.M.
thethe lastme measured
rt tel
de
mile,
her speed were made in
with
The wHt e
Orinocofr o Is
started
rprtiiefa)dles
feorari
on Friday.
about 124 stature
Performed in 5 minutes 10 seconds,
tse emu),
.n3t3h the boilers.
equal
to
equal to a speed of •
hour, the engines making 13 revolutions
tohptnelbillor6:l 3safigdaeisn knots,as
with a pressure of
second
10.811 knots, to which was added the influence of the
tide, equal to half a knot, making a total of 11.311
wheretime
sheff Gravesend
anchored
rfoteereerdemedationitnhge aNsohro? e
the night, performing the run thence, a distance
ance of
10throintsOcoAp
23 miles, against a four-knot tide, in
1 hour 23
minutes, the engines making 191
2 revolutions, the
speed by Massey 's log, when added to
_the adverse
influence of the tide, giving a speed of nearly 12
knots, equal to 13 4.5 miles per hour.
As the anchor rose sluggishly from its bed at the
Nore soundings, a slight movement aboard the Ori-
noco evinced a consciousness that the sea was not
quite as smooth as a duckpend. The wind whistled
smartly through the rigging,
and the nautical sages
on deck, looking knowingly to windward, and seeing
there a leaden sky, patched by whitish clouds, scud-
ding fast down upon us, prognosticated plenty of
wind, dirty weather, &c., and cheered each other by