The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-19 00:00:00

THE ROYAL OAR.

This magnificent frigate resumed and concluded
her trials at Portsmouth on Wednesday, and con-
cluded them with an almost unparalleled degree of
success, both in her steering and in her steaming
qualifications. The trials of the day were again
under the direction of Capt. Broadhead. The ship
had secured her anchor by 10 a.m., and as she stood
out to the southward and passed the fine wooden
frigate Orlando, of 51 guns, and 1,000 horse power
of engine, the band of the latter ship struck up
" Auld Lang Syne," which sounded like the wail of
the noble looking .ship on her giory being eclipsed
by her iron sister. The weather was again very
fine, and favourable for . bringing out the ship's
power, there being a light westerly summer breeze,
with smooth water. By the time the steam was
well up and all ready below, the ship had gained an
offing outside the Culver Cliffs, at the east end of
Sandown-bay, where advantage was taken of the
space to make the required number of circles with
four boilers, or two-thirds of the ship's power•
These were made with the following results :

Ist circle 2d circle Circle to

to port. to port. starboard.
Time occupied getting np helm lm. 05... ltn. 255. .. lm. 325.
Angle of rudder 25 deg. . 28 deg. .. 26 deg.

Turns of wheel
_ _

38 • • 3k

Time occupied making half-circle 3m 75... 2m. 58s .. 2m. 58s,

Ditto, full circle 6m. 215... 6m. 65... sm. 445.
Revolutions of Engines previous
to putting up th. helm 4B .. 52 .. 50
Revolutions afterwards
Hen at wheel

These three circles being considered a sufficient
test of the ship's steering power under two-thirds
force of her boilers, the ship was steered in for Spit-
head, and placed on the trial ground in Stokes-bay
to make four runs at the mile with the same amount
of boiler power. The results of the four runs were
thus :

No. of Time. Speed of Revolutions Pressure
Runs. min. sec. Ship. of Engines. of Steam. Vacuum.
1 .... 4 51 —.12'371 .., ... 514
2 .... 6 0 ....10.600 ...... 53
3 .. 4 53 ....12287 ...... 61
1 .... 0 8•• • • 9183 ••••.. 5t ..

Mean speed of the ship at two•thirds power-
-11.126 knots.

Steam was next got up in the remaining two
boilers, and two circles made with the ship's full
boiler power :

First Circle

Second to

to Pot t. Starboard.
Time occupied in getting up helm _ lm. 30 s. lm. 3t s.
Angle of rudder 261 deg. .... 22 deg.
Turns of wheel
Time occupied in making half-circle .. 2m. 47 5..... 2m. 47 s.
Ditto full circle .. am. 27 8..... sm. 2315.
Revolutions of Engines previous to put-
ting up the helm
Revolutions after wards
Men at the wheel

.. 60
.. 53

.. 6

With the exception of testing the facility with
which the machinery could be worked in answer to
the engine-room telegraph, the ship's cfficial trials
were now concluded, and these closing tests gave
their returns as follows :—Engines stopped dead,
from time of moving telegraph hand, in 55 secs.;
engines working astern at full speed from rest, do.,
in 18 secs.; engines from full speed astern to full
speed ahead, from do., in 13 sees.
The " indicated" horse-power of the Royal Oak
on her full boiler power trial of speed at the mea-
sured mile on Monday was 3,704 horses, and on her
four boiler power trial (two-thirds of her boiler
power), 2,998 horses.
It is a remarkable fact that the Royal Oak's trial
of speed at Portsmouth, with all her guns, stores,
provisions, &c., on board,—in fact, ready for sea,
should have exceeded in speed that obtained in her
light-draught full-power trial off the Maplin Sands;
yet such is the case. At Portsmouth she drew 23ft.
Sin. forward, and 25ft. 7in. aft. Off the Maplin
Sands she drew only 20ft. 4in. forward, and 23ft.
tin. aft. This gives a difference of about 900 toss
in the ship's displacement, and yet a greater speed
was obtained by the assistance only of a few pounds
of steam, for herein lay the secret.

The Royal Oak must be considered entirely suc-
cessful on all points of steaming and steering, and
will furnish Lord Clarence Paget with a strong
argument in his place in the House of Commons in
easothe English Navy, engine-power and
favour of Admiralty shipbuilding. It is an undeni-
able result of the ship's three days' trials that she
idsiEi,ptalakein
incgeiant:othcealfcaustltitn ship her
in
and in her stem ing capabilities cannot be approached
by any vessel the Admiralty have on their list above
the size of a gunboat. Her circles completed at full
power in 5 degs. 27 min. and 9 degs. 231 min. re-
spectively show, considering the vessel's size and
length, wonderful powers of turning in obedience
to her helm. In her feats of speed the results
"two-thirds"
equallyansadtisfactory with
third"
obtainedbole boiler-power
wi
enr hertri a
I's' oanree•
the results obtained with her full power of
six boilers. The vibration e-;perienced during the
trials was more than is experienced on board
either of the four iron ships, bat it was much
—very much less than would have been experi-
enced on board a wooden frigate during trial.
What motion there was experienced was lateral. At
the close of the trials, on anchoring at Spithead, the
lower portsills were, amidships, Bft. 3in. from the
water-line. The guns on the main deck are dis-
tributed in the following order :-24 95 cwt. 68-
pounder solid shot guns, and eight 110-pounder
Armstrong—the latter placed on the bows and
quarters.
It is impossible to close the notice of the trials of
the Royal Oak without referring to a required