The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-28 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

VALETTA, Nov. 23.—The British fleet has been
Piraeus, at the request, it is said, of
hP•id7sturbances may break out at the
thefr.fresh
8.
the Greek Munster Bul •
gam, fears being enter-
instigation of young a ;
—r.vas, who appears to be
giving the Government some trouble. The Marl-
borough (flagship of the English Commander-in-
Chief), the Trafalgar, and the St. George were on
the point of leaving for Malta, when their depart-
tare was suddenly stopped by the new aspect affairs
had taken. The Gibraltar, 81, which had received
orders to remain at Malta, has been telegraphed for,
and proceeds to-day to join the Admiral, taking up
a mail with her. The Caradoc, paddlewheel despatch
vessel, Lieut.-Com. E. Wilkinson, arrived on Mon-
day last from Messina for orders. She has been
recently employed in conveying Sir Henry Lytton
Bulwer, our Ambassador at Constantinople, on a
visit to the Islands of the Archipelago and some of
the ports of Italy. The Hydra, paddlewheel sur-
veying vessel, left M ilta harbour on Tuesday for
Tripoli, and is likely to be away about ten days or
a fortnight. Her object is to lay down two buoys
for the Turkish Government and to complete the
survey of a part of the coast. She has been com-
missioned by Capt. Spratt (formerly commanding
the Medina), who, has, however, only accepted the
command until. the nomination of his successor.
Public opinion points to Commander Mansell, of
the Firefly, for promotion to post rank, and
Lieut. G. R. Wilkinson, lately First Lieut. of the
Medina, and long a useful and able officer in this
important branch of the service, to the command
thus vacated. The following official notice re-
garding the late re-discovery of Graham's Shoal,
dated from the Hydrographic-office, Admiralty,
London, October 21, was published yesterday
by the naval authorities here :—" Captain Spratt,
C. 8., reports the following information relative to
the examination of Graham's Shoal, on the south
coast of Sicily, by Staff Commander John Stokes,
in her Majesty's surveying vessel Growler, Septem-
ber, 1863 :__The shoal was found to lat. 37 deg.,
9 min. 42 sec. N., long. 12 deg. 43 rain. 52 sec. E. of
Greenwich. The least water on it is 15ft. from
which Pantelleria bears W. by S. 1 S., and the town
of Sciacca in Sicily N•E• i E. with St. Cologero a
degree to the eastward. it has two heads close to-
gether, and at the distance of about 20 yards all

consists of cinders and fine black sand, occasionally
coral and brown sand.' fhe Supply, 2, iron screw
storeship, Master Commander Bowden, left Malta
on Tuesday for England, with condemned stores.
Her 'Majesty's ships now in Malta harbour are—

the Hibernia, receiving ship (bearing the flag of
Rear-Admiral H. T. Austin, C. 8.) ; the Gibraltar,
81; the Phoebe, 35 ; the Icarus, 11 (under repairs) ;
the Foxhound, 4; tha Caradoc, despatch vessel ;

and the Medina.
The Warrior, 40, iron frigate, Capt. A. A. Coch-
rane, C. 8., was yesterday, according to previously
announced arrangements, undocked at Portsmouth,
and berthed in the harbour, where she took her
crew on board from her hulk, and will complete for
joining the admiral at Spithead.. We have on two
occasions since the ship has been in dock made a
few remarks on the internal arrangements of the
ship as a man-of-war, and on the condition and na-
ture of the compositions and sheathing with which
her bottom has been coated externally, and shall
take the present opportunity to shortly notice the
present state of the ship's hull and her machinery,
and add also a few facts to our former notice of the
working of the ozone gas in use in her engine-room
and screw alley. It is almost needless to say that
every time the Warrior goes into dock or even lies in
still water every possible measure is taken by the offi-
cers belonging to her to keep themselves thoroughly

acquainted with all parts of the ship, so far as may
be possible under the circumstances, and that there-

og-her framilig Jo* e !ling sy

and plating,—her hull proper, or skin—is pretty

well known to her officers, much better to them, in

'act, than it can be to any of the officials of a dock-

yard. Every part of the structure, frame, fasten-
ings, and plating has been found in the most per-
fect condition; even the sleepers on which rest the

huge boilers and machinery bear about them the

same appearance of massive strength and solidity
as on the day they received the first portion of their
weights, and it is believed they have not moved a

hair's breadth from the line of their original posi-
tion. The whole structure of the hull is thus, as
far as can be reasonably asserted under the nnavoid-

able circumstances of a partial inspection, as sound
as on the day the vessel was first sent afloat from

her builder's yard. From published reports the
public know that the Warrior has seen a good deal

of rough weather since she has been commissioned ;

and, indeed, as as an example of the kind of wea-
ther she has at times had to contend with, it may

be mentioned that on one occasion she took a sea
on board of such volume that the stokehole itself

was swamped, every gauge-glass in trout of
the boilers broken, and the whole place filled with
steam, hot ashes, and water. It has been the
care of the Admiralty to officer the Warrior as care-
fully below as on deck, and in the midst of the con-
fusion occasioned by this sudden invasion of sea
water the men were kept steadily to their work, and
the ship continued her progress without a check.
The present state of the Warrior's hull, therefore,
showing as it does such unequalled excellence of
material and workmanship, must be a matter of great
pride and gratification to both the Admiralty and
the Thames Ironworks Company. Since coming
into harbour every bearing of engine, shaft, and
hasbeen most minutely and carefully ex-
mand not a defect of any kind, however slight,
has
inbeen
found to exist. On the contrary, these
eds
parts are more perfect, perhaps, than when the
screwas
engines were first put together, for whatever of
roughness or unevenness might have existed then
has now been worn down to a polished smoothness,
and friction has been reduced to the minimum point.
With reference to Trachsell's ozone gas, now in use
in the engine-room and screw alley of the Warrior,
the gas being 28 times heavier than common air, a
current of air becomes necessary to carry it to the
burner. This is obtained by a double Indiarubber
bellows or blower, worked by a weight and geared
wheels, which carries a current of air equal to 12.33
cubic feet per hour, or 148 cubic feet in 12 hours,
absorbing 307.469 cubic inches of ozone—equal to
1.102 gallons for 15 lights for 12 hours—each light
being equal to that of three composite candles at
eight to the pound. The cost of lighting the engine
room and screw alley with 15 of the ozone lights for
12 hours is 4s sd, against 17s 4d for 33 oil and candle
lamps, the ozone gas giving 11 per cent. more light.
With regard to the Warrior's general efficiency as
a man-of-war, there can be no doubt that she holds
now, as she has held from the first hour of her
launch, the foremost place in our navy. Her
acknowledged faults consist in her extreme length,
great draught of water, and deficiency in turning
power, faults which certainly render her services
unavailable in narrow or shallow waters. Her pre-
eminent virtue consists in her speed, at present un-
paralleled by any ship of war afloat. The Defence and
Resistance class are more manageable under steam in
any confined space, but they do not possess anything
like the speed of the Warrior, and therefore their
favourable points are nullified. The Hector (interme-
diate class) has yet to be tried; but her speed is not
expected to equal that of the Warrior, and, there-
fore, she falls back in the Defence class. Neither
the Monitaur, Northumberland, nor Agincourt is
afloat yet, and when they are their small additional
engine power will not compensate for their additional
displacement, and they will be fully a knot less in
speed than the Warrior, and therefore her inferior,
notwithstanding their armour protected ends. Mr.
Reed's and Capt. Coles's vessel have yet to be dis-
posed of, but, whatever be the offensive powers of
either craft, unless they possess the Warrior's speed
they cannot be said to equal her. The main deck
guns of the Warrior are undoubtedly as heavy as
can be worked in a seaway on the broadside of our
present ironclads, and they can inflict no great
injury during a naval action on the plates of a ship
clothed with 5-inch armour. These facts speak
strongly for the introduction of a more powerful
gun into the navy—one, in fact, which shall crush
an enemy's plate, in lieu of making, as the 68-
pounder does, simply an indentation of about an
inch and a quarter in diameter. Now, if Mr. Reed
or Captain Coles's ships can carry a gun say of three
times the power of the 68-pounder, and have a speed
at the least equal to the Warrior's, then may they
w hich
compete by themselves for the superiority h r
the Warrior now enjoys. If they do not equal e
in speed they will most decidedly not equal her as
men-of-war, whatever their offensive or defensive
powers may be.
tend into a
The Lords of the Admiralty have en
of Shef-
contract with Messrs. J. Brown and Co.,
field, for the supply by that firm
of upwards of
the iron-cased
1,000 tons of armour-plating for
frigate Lord Warden, at Chatheni
will be covered
The armour-
plates with which the Lord Warden
will be 5,1-in. in thickness for
her lower broadside
in thickness, the
tiers, and the remainder
41in.respect from the other
armour-plated frigates in
Lord Warden differing in this
having her armour-plates
of the same thickness on the stem and stern as on
her broadside. The blocks for the new frigate have
been laid on No. 7 slip for some time, and the frame
cut out, but in consequence of all the available hands
at Chatham having been employed for several months
past in completing the Achilles the commencement
of the Lord Warden has been unavoidably delayed.
The following appointments and promotions Were
made yesterday at the Admiralty :—Thomas Dan.
can, chief engineer, to the Conqueror ; Stmuel E.
Derrick, W. W. Christie, and Harvey Benbow,
engineers, to the Euryalus, additional for disposal ;
Henry Knight, engineer, to the Cornwallis; F. W.
Sutton, acting engineer, to the Cornwallis tender ;
Charles J. Martin, acting engineer, to the Hawke
tender; Alexander Stewart (a), Robert Glasspole,
Jamesgtogers, Alfred R. Rogers,Thomas Haywood,
Henry A. Palmer, Michael Harris, John Roberts,
(b), rind Evan L. Williams, assistant-engineers, to
the Elul:1411161 additional for disposal;

Blanch, A Reid, and W. Vaudrey, assistant-engi-
neers, to the Conqueror ; Charles Hetherington, of
the Marlborough ; J. R. Cooper, of the Cumber-
land; Thomas Wilson, of the Fisgard ; William
Young, of the Rattler ; David Landlands, of the
Ciradoc ; John Roberts (b), of the Euryalus ; David
Miller, of the Majestic ; Thomas Edgar, of the
Phoebe; John King :(a), of the Hydra; Alfred
Smith, of the Psyche; and Edmund Hawke, of the
Charybdis, promoted to engineers ; William Sides,
of the Curlew, promoted to acting-engineer.