The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-24 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.
The trial of the engines of the new screw steam-
ship the Prince Consort, at Plymouth, which will
take place shortly, will be conducted in a manner

different from that which has hitherto prevailed.
It has been the practice for a newly fitted ship to
be navigated in the morning from her moorings in
Hamoaze to the back of the breakwater, or round
the Eddystone Lighthouse, and to be replaced in
the evening in the Hamoaze. In the present in-

stance the PriLce Consort will be placed in the
hands of 100 men selected, with their officers, from
the Steam Reserve, who will moor her every even-

ing inside the breakwater, and thus avoid the long
and intricate navigation to Hatnoaz3 and the sub-

sequent difficulty of threading between the ships at
anchor in that harbour. This ship was laid down
at Pembroke as a line-of-battle ship on the same

Ines as the Gibraltar, but was afterwards cut in

two, lengthened 23 feet, and, like the Ocean, re-
duced to a two-decker. She was first called the

Triumph, but this name was altered to the Prince
Consort. Her launch took place in June, 1862.

The dimensions are—length over all, 277 ft.; length

between perpendiculars, 273 ft. ; keel for tonnage,

232 ft. aiin.; breadth extreme, 58ft. Sin. ; do. for
tonnage, 57ft. 2in. ; do. moulded, 56ft. 4in.; depth

of hold, 19ft. 10in.; tonnage, 4,045 26.94 tons;
do. Board of Trade, 3,521.34 tons; tonnage of en.

gine room, 1.913.74 tons; do.-register, 1,607.6 tons;
displacement when light, 2,924 tons; do. estimated

when loaded, 6,328 tons; estimated draught when
loaded, 23ft. 7in. forward, 25ft. 2in. aft. Her
draught, when launched, was 12ft. llin. forward,
and 16It. 10in, aft; mean draught, 14ft. 101 in.

t is intended on the trial to make her draw 23 feet

Sin. forward, and 25 feet Sin. aft. Her iron masts
are stepped, and the guns are on board ; there will
also be six months' stores in her; the remainder
will be made up with iron ballast. The heel of the
mainmast is forked to admit the propeller shaft;

the mast is 115 ft. 6in. long ; foremast, 109 ft. Gin. ;
wizen, 82ft. Bin.; and bowsprit, 41ft. Gin., all of
iron. The armament on the main deck is 24 guns for
8-inch solid shot, each weighing 25 cwt., with four
Armstrongs, 110-pounders, each weighing 84 cwt.
forward, and the like number aft ; • on the upper
deck two Armstrongs forward and one aft-35 in
all. The engines collectively of 1,000 horse-power
(nominal) are from the manufactory of Messrs.
Mandslay, Sons, and Field, and are seated 15 feet
before the mainmast; they are termed " horizontal
double piston rod." The horizontal doable-action
air-pump is worked direct from the engine. Each
of the engines is fitted with box slides; they are
worked by double eccentric and link motion, and are
provided with metallic slide valves. The air-pump
valves are of indiarubber, with metallic valves to
discharge through the sides of the ship. The air-
pumps arc 29in. in diameter, and hare a 4ft. stroke.
rhe inside diameter of the steam cylinders is 92in.;

they are steam jacketed. The diameter of the main
steam pipes is 23in. The pistons are fitted with rue-
taliic packing, and not with hemp as heretofore
There are also in the engine-room two small mule.
liary engines of 12in. diameter. Each of these is
fitted with a pump for filling boilers from the sea;
together they are capable of supplying the requisite
amount of water when the main engines are work-
ing full boiler power. She has in addition a double
7in. pump, which can be worked by hand or steam,
capable of supplying a sufficient quantity of water
for working half-boiler Power, and arranged so as to
pump on deck or overboard, and to draw water from
the bilges or the sea. The Prince Consort has two
stokeholes, the one before the engine-room has four
boilers, with five furnaces in each, the one abaft four
boilers with three furnaces in each. The eight
boilers contain 3,840 tubes, each of which is 6ft.
long by 21 in. outer diameter, and 21 inner diame-
ter. By the fete boilers the power of 600 horses
(nominal) can be obtained, and by the other 400
horses, calculated at 711 es. effective pressure per
square inch. The fore chimney is aft, 3in. diame-
ter, the after 6ft. bin. Both stoke-holes are well
ventilated, but the pressure of the screw shaft,
shoulder high, in the after stoke-hole, is very in-
convenient—it is cased. The after stoke-hole is,
however, a little wider than the fore stoke-hole.
The length of the propeller shaft in board is.9Bft.
3in., weight 17 tons, diameter 18in. forward, and
20in. aft. The gun metal screw propeller is four
bladed ; it weighs about 152 tons, and overhangs,
or, rather, has no outer bearing. The diameter is
21ft., and the pitch, on Maudslay's principle, can
be altered from 20ft. to 25ft. mean pitch. The
stern bracket is surfaced up, and the boss of the
screw is surfaced also ; the machinery is arranged
so that the screw-shaft can be carried forward to
close the opening entirely where the two surfaces
meet, and thus the sudden influx of the sea can be
prevented in case of an accident similar to that of
the Royal Albert in 1856, when the water rose to
her ash-pans, and her commander was obliged to run
her on a sand bank in the island of Teo, in the Me-
diterranean. The Prince Consort's screw shaft is
fitted with a disconnecting clutch and friction
brake, by which, when the ship is under canvas
only, the screw will he allowed to revolve freely in
the water. The brake can be used when it is re-
ef:scary to stop the screw, and reconnect it with the
engines for the purpose of resorting
to steam. In
the fore stoke-hole there is a space blade for use in
case of accident; like the others its flange is per-
forated with slotted holes for the reception of the
screws which fasten it to the boss. The blades
are twisted slightly, and become much thinned
towards the outer ends. The engines and
machinery weigh 750 tons; the cost is about
X 50,500, and the manufacturer obtains in ad-
• dition rer 4rsc, power (s1)000) for placing them

on board. To aid the ventilation holes have been

perforated in the masts above and below, and the
coal shoots have hollow-work deck covers, which
admit both air end light. Cowlhcad ventilators can
be substituted. On the suggestion of Mr. Sampson,
her engineer, her iron flaps in the air casings which
inclose her smoke chimneys below give place to glass
doors, by which light as well as air is admitted to
the 'tween decks. At each side of the upper deck
of the Prince Consort, amidships, there is a round
tower, seven feet high and about five feet diameter,
constructed of wood 12 inches thick. The ship-
wrights' work is complete, and, excepting the last
coat, which will not be applied until she is further
advanced, most of the painters' work is finished.
The Prince Consort, though not built for, can be
used as a rum ; she is classed with the Caledonia,
built at Woolwich ; the Ocean, at Plymouth ; the
Royal Oak, at Chatham ; and the Royal Alfred, at
Portsmouth. The two last have engines of 850
horse power, the other three of 1,000 horse. All
are iron-plated. The number of plates on the Prince
Consort is 259, and weight 873 tons ; bolts and nuts,
26 tons; those on the Ocean will be 275, weighing
935 tons; the odd plates go round the storm. The
plates on the Prince Consort are rolled ; those on
the Royal Oak are hammered, Where the displace-
ment of the Prince Consort is 6,328 tons, that of
the Royal Oak is over 7,000 tons.
The Osborne, royal paddle yacht, Staff Comman-
der George K. Bower, yesterday steamed out of
Portsmouth harbour, and tested her machinery at
Spithead, returning to harboiFagain on the con-
clusion of the trial. The fitting of new wheels to
this yacht, recently e.arried out by Messrs. Mauds-
lay, Field, and Co., has given a full knot per hour
additional over her old rate of speed when under
full steam.

Her Majesty's screw steam corvette Scylla, 21
guns, 1,467 tons, 400-horse power, recently com-
missioned at Sheerness, by Capt. S. G. Creswell,
having been swung for the adjustment of her com-
passes, and received her ammunition and stores on
board, will proceed for trial of her engines and
machinery, it is expected, on Thursday next, at the
measured mile off Maplin Sands. Should the trial
prove successful, she will immediately be inspected
by the Commander-in-Chief at the Nore (Vice-
Admiral Sir G. R. Lambert, K.C.8.) and Staff,
previous to her departure for her deatination—the
East Indies and China stations.

The Tamar, 3, iron screw troop ship, 2,812 tons,
500-horse power, Capt. F. H. Stirling, is progress-
ing with her fitments in the most rapid manner at
Sheerness dockyard, and has nearly completed
coaling, so that, in a short time, she will be ready
for the pennant. Her trial will take place in a

few days.
The Terrible, 21, paddlewheel frigate, 1,850 tons,
800-horse power, is in the hands of the artisans of
Sheerness dockyard, being brought forward with
all possible dispatch for commission. She was
built from designs by Mr. E. 0. Lang, master ship-
wright of Chatham dockyard, and is considered the
finest vessel of her class in the British navy. When
her repairs are completed she will be fully equal to
a new vessel.
The Rhadamanthus, paddlewheel storeship, 220-
horse-power, is undergoing repairs to her bull and
machinery, and being fitted with new boilers in
No. 4 dock of Sheerness-yard. She is being brought
forward for the Ist division of the Sheerness Steam

Reserve.
A 'arge number cf workmen are employed on
board the Fawn, 17, screw steam sloop, 100-horse
power, at Sheerness dockyard, in making good her
defects preparatory to being commissioned. It is
expected that she will proceed to the Mediterranean
to relieve the Greyhound, 17 screw steam sloop,
200-horse power, Commander Henry D. Hickley,
which was commissioned in 1861.
The Assaye, laden with a portion of the,tele-
graph cable from Mr. Henley's factory at North
Woolwich, was yesterday towed down to Gravesend
from Deptford, where she has been engaged for
some days in shipping her sea stock. On passing
the factory she dipped her colours and fired a salute,
which was returned by the sister vessel Tweed (late
the Punjaub), which will also shortly be ready for
the Persian Gulf.
A portion of the masting gear belonging to the
line-of-battle screw steamer Hoed, 79, 600 horse
power, in the second division of the Chatham Steam
Reserve, is to be sent from Chatham Dockyard to
be fitted on board the Cumberland, 74, Capt. Hall
C. 8., guardship of the steam reserve.
In consequence of the favourable report made to
the Admiralty of the satisfactory working ef the
system of ventilation invented by Vice-Admiral Sir
A.Milne, K.C.8., Commander-ia-Chief of the North
American squadron, and introduced as an experi-
ment into the screw gun vessel Lily, 4, instructions
have been received at Chatham, directing that the
system is to be carried out in all screw despatch
vessels and ships of that class, including gunboats,
when practicable. The system of engine room ven-
tilation invented by Mr. Baker, inspector of ma-
chinery at Chatham Dockyard, can only, from the
peculiarity of its working, be carried nut on board
vessels of comparatively large size ; but wherever
it has been introduced, especially on board iron
ships, its success has.been complete. There is still,
however, scope for improvements on the mode of
ventilating smaller steam vessels, especially these
serving in the tropics. On the recent official trial
of the iron frigate Recruit, 6, 150 horse power, at
Chatham, with only a decreased number of furnaces
the temperature of the stokeholes occasionally ex-
ceeded 120 degrees.
The Scylla, 21, 400 horse power, fitting for sea,
is ordered to be expedited as much as possible. A
rumour was current at Chatham yesterday that
there will be a change in the command of this ship,
necessitated by the ill health of Capt. Cresswell.
The following appointments have been made in
the Royal Naval Reserve :—To be Lieut.—Fred.
Stanley Ewen. To be Hon. Lieut.—Wm.Curling.