The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-01 00:00:00

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Trial of H.M:s Turret Ram Scorpion,
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PRICE ..4d.
STAMPED,....Sd.

It is satisfactory to Ittovv that the English navy
alone possesses such a C!css of vessel as this—fit for
either harbour work or ocean cruising, and. having
such a rate of speed at a c mwarative sq/al.l expen-
penditure of power. The famous American moni.
tors are not so fast by several knots, and they are
only coast vessels.—hetanehester Courier.

TS PA P T

On Tuesday the first of the celebrated lrati
built by Messrs Laird Brothers, of B irke tti,mado '1•224
a preliminary, or engineers', trial trip. rAce the
vessel has been handed over by Gover_ 3at to a S
Messrs. Laird, all that has been done has been to
put the vessel in the graving dock, scrape her bot-
tom, and clean down the paint-work and machi-
nery, which had become much deteriorated by ten
months' exposure to the weather in the river. Be-
sides the builders, there were cn board Mr Dinnen,
Admiralty inspector of machinery ; Mr _Hobbs, in-
spector shipwright, who is superintending the con-
struction of the ironclad frigate Agincourt, by
Messrs. Laird ; and a few other gentlemen,
amongst them one or two naval officers. The ves-
sel, which was originally christened El Tousson,
has had her name changed to the Scorpion since
her addition to the Royal Navy list. The Scorpion
is 224 ft in length on the water line, including the
sft ram, 421 ft beam, and 2bft deep, measurement
1,890 tons. Her sides are plated with 41in. iron
plates, hacked with 10in, of teak, and behind this
the ordinary iron skin. The Scorpion has engines
of nominally 350 horse power, the cylinders being
laid horizontally, and fitted with double piston-
roads. The diameter of the cylinders is 56in. each,
with 3ft length of stroke. The Scorpion is rigged
as a three master schooner, and will carry a large
spread of canvas, being fit to cruise anywhere.
In the trial on Tuesday there were about 200 tons
of coal on board, and the vessel drew 13ft forward
newness
and 14ft Din aft. in consequence of the
of the machinery and danger of dirt having got into
the bearings while the vessel was lying unfinished
the Scorpion steamed easy down the river against
the flood tide. The Rock Lighthouse was passed
at 10,30 a.m„ and, going down the Queen's Chan.
nel, the north-west light ship was reached at 11.45,
a distance of 14 nautical miles, in an hour and a
quarter. Afterwards the engines were put to a
higher speed, and with 201 b pressure of steam, and,
the engines making 69 revolutions per minute, th e
run between the Victoria Channel, Fairway buoy,
and the Queen's Channel Bell buoy, a measured
distance slightly short of one nautical mile, was
run in 4 min.4o sec, or nearly equal to 12.237 knots
an hour, a speed much beyond what was expected
when the vessels were designed. Two subsequent
runs were made when the ebb tide got stronger.
The first occupied 5 mins. 25 sec., the second 4
mine. 58 sec., mean time 5 min. 111 sec., or 11
6-10th knots per hour. The machinery worked with
great smoothness, and not the ordinary vibration
from the screw,which is 14ft diameter, with 3 blades.
The vessel cruised about outside the banks for some
time, and the facility with which she answered her
helm was remarkable, the half circle being made at
full speed in a little over two minutes. With six
men at the wheel, the vessel going at full speed,
the complete circle to port was made in 4 min. 10
secs., to starboard in 4 tnins..4s secs., the vessel
turning in apparently twice her own length. The
vessel is steered with a wheel aft, and in action.
with a wheel placed between decks amidships, and
protected by the plated sides of the vessel, There
are two turrets, 24ft. in outer diameter, covered
with 51in. plates, and 14in. teak. Each turret will
carry two 12 ton guns, or 300-pounders, trained
alongside of each other, and served by the men from
outside the lower part of the turrets between decks.
Within the turrets there will only be three men to
each gun. The turrets revolve on wheels, the ma-,
chinery being worked by four winches acting on a
toothed rim. The facility with which the turrets,
were turned in either direction was admired by ail
who witnessed the operation. There is a difference
in Capt. Coles's principle of revolving these turrets
and that adopted on the American monitors, be-
lieved to be greatly in favour of the former, the
revolving machinery being all in the under part of
the turret, and protected from an enemy's fire.
With armament and stores on board the Scorpion
will probably draw nearly a foot more water than
on Tuesday, but as the screw will be more immersed
the speed will scarcely be affected. The armamen
of the Scorpion, it is expected, will be sent down
to Birkenhead to be fitted on board, after which an
official trial trip will take place, and the capabilities
of the vessel to stand fire satisfactorily established.
IP a month or six weeks the second ram, the
w, ror.. .m;11 b, roody fox. trim