The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-07 00:00:00

Trial of the Eiachantrek's, Admiralty Yacht,

The official trial of this vessel took place at Ports-
mouth on Thursday, superintended by Captain H.
Broadhad, commanding the steam reserve, and
staff, which comprised Mr. Ward, assistant-engi-
neer of her Majesty's Dockyard, and Mr. Murdoch,
inspector of machinery afloat at the port. The heavy
gales of the past three weeks were on Thursday
succeeded off Portsmouth by a moderate breeze from
the W.N.W., and the weather on the whole, for the
season of the year, could not well have been more
favourable for developing the ship's speed. The
ship left the harbour at 11 a.m,, and as soon as the
fires were well clear she was put on the trial ground,
where six runs at full power were made with the
following result :
No. of Run. Time. Speed of Ship in knots.

min. see.
1 .. 3 41 .. 16.289
2 .. 4 17 14.003
3 .. .. 3 38 .. 16 514
4 .. 4 20 .. 13.846
5 .. 3 37 .. 16.590
6 .. 4 17 13.953
Mean speed of the six runs, 15.216 knots.
The maximum of the engines' revolutions were 37.5,
and their minimum 35.5. The average pressure of
steam was 25.51 b., and the vacuum 26 inches. Four
rune at half-boiler power produced the following
results :

No. of Run. Time. Speed of Ship in knots.
min. sec.
1 .. 3 47 .. 15 859
2 .. .. 4 33 .. 13.186
3 .. .. 3 45 .. .. 16 000
4 .. .. 4 35 .. .. 13 091
Mean speed of the four runs, 14.563 knots.

It will be seen that there is but little difference
between the ship at full and half boiler power, while
of course there is a very great difference between
the full and half power consumption of fuel, and
fuel, rightly considered, represents cost as well as
power, both employed to gain certain results. The
cause of this is simple and easy of explanation. The
fact is that in the construction of ships for her Ma-
jesty's Navy no attention whatever is paid to the
relations which ought to exist between the engine
power and form of hull, and the result in the pre-
sent instance is—as in fact may be shortly said to
be always the case in the Royal Navy—that every
inch of steam added to the half power goes towards
depressing the ship's bows further in the water,
until, when a full head of steam is on, a large vo-
lume of water, with three distinct waves, is thrown
off from each side of the ship's bow. What cen be
done to remedy this ridiculous state of things is
shown by the action of the hull of the Himalaya
and the Fire Queen under steam, both built at pri-
vate yards. Excellent machinery is put into our
ships of war by private manufacturers, but the for-
mation of the hull is never rightly considered by
the authorities at the Admiralty in relation to the
propelling power. In our reports of screw trials
of her Majesty's ships in Stokes Bay for several
years past, we have so often had occasion to draw
attention to this radical defect in the form of ships'
bows that it is only with the greatest reluctance we
again refer to it. At the conclusion of the mile
trials the ship was next tested in making circles,
and her machinery in turning ahead, reversing,
stopping, &c., in the usual manner, in the follow-
ing order:—The helm was first put over to port in
30 sec., the ru lder being at an angle of 17 deg., and
the half circle made in 2 min. 32 sec., and the full
circle completed in 4 minutes 54 seconds. The
helm was next put over to starboard in 24 seconds,
bringing the rudder to an angle of 21 deg., and the
half-circle made in 2 min. 27 sec., and the full com-
pleted in 4 min. 17 sec., the revolutions of the en-
gines being in both instances 33. The machinery
worked well throughout, and was undoubtedly cap-
able of developing even a greater power than was
shown on Thursday, when the indicated power was
no less than 1,600 horse. The nominal horse power
of the engines is 250, the cylinders having a diame-
ter of 62in., an area of 3,019.07 in., and 4ft. 6in.
length of stroke of piston. The draught of water
was 9ft. 7in. forward and aft, on an even keel, and
the immersion of the paddle floats was 4ft, 4in.
We cannot close our remarks on the trial of the
Admiralty new yacht, however, without taking the
opportunity of protesting in the strongest terms
against the present system of running a vessel at
the measured mile. For all practical purposes such
runs must be utterly valueless, as a vessel can never
while in commission be tried under the same cir-
cumstances. A ship is put at the mile light, her
machinery in charge of the makers, coals picked and
waste thrown overboard, the wind not as a rule ex-
ceeding a force of three, and a rate of speed attained
and published in official Admiralty returns as the
ship's speed under steam, when at the same time it
is well known to all that this published rate of speed
will never again be equalled while the ship floats.
To obtain a valuable result from a ship's trial a
certain amount of fuel should be weighed out to
her, and then she should be despatched to Lisbon,
Gibraltar, or Madeira and back, and the expendi-
ture of fuel on her return compared with the
results obtained. The only excuse now made
for continuing the present fallacious " measured
mile" system is that " comparative" results are
thereby obtained—that is, that, although the sys-
tem is radically wrong and deceptive in every
sense, yet we may as well continue it, as we
are thereby certain to get the usual means of com-
parison, although we know it co be worthless. It is
quite impossible to say anything in favour of such
nonsense, but the sooner such a false system is
abolished, and a more reliable one substituted, the
better it will be for the official regulation of the
Admiralty and the public purse. The principal
dimensions of the Enehantree.s are :

t. .
Length between perpendiculars ln
220 0
Length of keel for tonnage .. 200 li
Breadth, extreme
Length, moulded 27 2
14 6 Depth of h01d.....

Burthen in tons

The accommodation on board for the Admiralty,
ship's officers, and crew is, for the vessel's tonnage,
good, both with regard to room and arrangement.
On her quarter-deck she has a dining saloon for
their lordships' use when on board, 30ft. Gin, in
length, 12ft. Gin. in breadth, and ift, 6in, in height.
Below there are four roomy cabins in addition to
the " First Lord's," the !Ater being superior in
size and accommodation to all the others as becomes
such a personage. There is also a dining saloon
below for use at sea in rough weather, and an after
retiring cabin, something like a ladies' cabin in a
passenger steamship., Forward of the engines ate
the ship's officers' cabins and messroom, and the
cabins for the suite of their lordships; and forward
of the whole is the forenstle ter the crew, all
roomy, compact, and, for Admiralty work, wonder-
fully well arrar,g,id. At the close of the trial the
Enchantress returned into Portsmouth harbour to
complete hut. outfit, and will be immediately com-
missioned by Master Commuider Petley, late of the
Black E tgle, as the official steam yacht of the Ad
miralty Board.

THE VICEROY OF EGYPT.—The Sultan has given
orders for the immediate preparation of the decoration of
the Osmanie in brilliants, and a sword of honour, for pre-
sentation to Ismail Pasha, the Viceroy of Egypt,—Levant
Herald.

THE TEA DUTIES.—At a meeting of the Edict'
burgh Chamber of Commerce on Thursday it was
unanimously resolved-4, That a memorial be presented to
Parliament narrating the arrangement made by Parliament
in 1853, by which the duty on tea was to have been reduced
to ls. per lb. in 1556, and expressing a strong and reason"
able desire that, as the state of the finances this year can
aff .rd a reduction of the duty to ls. per lb., it ought now to
be made ; and that, to give facilities for increased consutur
tion of tea throughout every village and hamlet 0: the
country, cons,?quAat on the reduction of duty, licenses to
sell it should Le reduced or dispensed with." It was Pls°
agreed—" That the Chamber petition Parliament, reconY:.
rhose small but vexatious duties recentl imposed 011 y
mending that provision should be made for the abolition of
the
trade and commerce of the country, in aid a the charges
for the collection of revenue, the' trifling income
which is, in the opinion of the Chamber, an utterly inade-
quate compensation for the annoyance and discontent they
occasion;" and " That a petition be forwarded to the liouso.ca.
of Commons praying for the diminution, as far as El
house bu•iness, and for the re-appointinent of the :se
anua
ble, of the forms now required in the transaction of
cPCruainsetv7:
tee of last Session on the Consolidation of the i
':ustomsto
in favour of a treaty of commerce with Austria ,s
.' ' A memorial to the Board of Trade was
the treaty with Fiance. imadoosprted