The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-08 00:00:00

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Naval and Military Intelligence,

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weight of the (argiit is exactly 3891 b. #to thd square,
foot, which is between 301 b. and 401 1. per a quare4
foot more than the -a Varrior target. Should the:.
Bellerophon target stand well against the
.ordina.l3o
service guns-110-pounde.r Arnastror. gs, and 68-A
pounder muzzle loaders—a con3ideti. advanco:::7
will be made, for the BellerLahon, alt hough only
300 ft. long, and costing nearlY. I:100,0i )0 less than':
the Warrior, will be more effectua.llY Pr' Dtected from
end to end than that vessel is in L. he I a fiddle only.
The target is not expected to stan,l oi-Tainst the
large Whitworth guns and the 00C `-pounder
Armstrong, shut from both of which will
probably go right through it. A sanguine
belief is, however, entertained by the off, eials at
Chatham dockyard concerned in its constr netion,
that the 68-pounder and 110-pounder Aura ,trong
shot will fail to penetrate if.-
Through the exeftions of srs. Penn and Sons,
the manufacturers of the engines for the Aretirfaca,
35, 500 horse power, the accident av,''ich oceurre.,-I to
the condenser has been completely nya ired, and a
new metal cistern door to the condense .e completc
s.
and fitted. The part of the condenser to \which the'
accident occurred will be repaired and th ted as a
spare cistern door. The Arethusa is expect. 3d to be
commissioned for sea forthwith.
A large quantity of horse provender is in c 'ourso
of shipment for New Zealand, to supply the Ex ddi-
tional troop-horses required for the present en ler-
gency. The Statesman is to b' employed on Oils
service, and yesterday commenced 'shipping 150 tot's
of compressed hay and other fodder. The Golconda
was yesterday inspected, to follow f.he Statesmasimilan,
and other ships are to be hired to cmavey r
freights to New Zealand during the raor,ql-
The following appointments were made 4
t to the
n Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. L. M. Mallet
Con-
Defence ; George Grant, paymaster, to the
the
queror ; Edward W. Gordon, paymaster, to
Meander ; and William E. Presscott, first el ass
assistant engineer, to the Rattlesnake.
The following appointments and promotions web"
made yesterday at the Admiralty :--Commander
S. Rowley, to the Fisgard, additional, for sera-ice'
with the Enterprise ; Lieut. Lawrence A. Bell, to
the Excellent ; Richard G. Chandler, assist. pay-
master, to the Resistance ; John M'Senzie, of the
Asia, Tames Mutter (acting), of the Challenger,
Angus INl.lntyre, of the Cumberland, George E.„
Foote (acting), of the Terror, David Francis (acting),
of the Vulcan, John Aitkin, of the Fox, William
Wallan, of the Queen, Daniel Cartmel (acting;), of
the Imnaortalite, Joseph Turner, of f thetheH Asia, for
ya,the
Hector ; Robert Anderson (b) oimala
Joseph B. Frith, of the Argus, George Bartlett, of
the Magicienne, and Thomas Young, of the Induc\-
try, promoted to be first class assistant engineers.

THE NAVY.
Her Majesty's steam storeship Supply, Comman-
der Bawdeu, R.N., having discharged a portion of
her cargo from Malta and Gibraltar, consisting of
victualling stores, yesterday hauled alongside the
wharf at Woolwich, and commenced returning her
dockyard stores.
The freightship Guide, from Gibraltar, yesterday
completed clearing out her cargo of returned war
stores at Woolwich, and was paid out of theeereice.
The old 78 gunship Conqueror, fitted with a
screw propeller, is under orders to receive the bat-
talion of Royal Marines for Japan, in command of
Lieut.-Col. Suther, on the 11th inst., and to sail on
the following day.
The Lord Panmure, ordnance steamer, arrived at
Portsmouth yesterday from Woolwich, with a heavy
cargo of guns and ordnance stores, including the
two 12-ton 10.5 inch 300-pounder Armstrong guns
from Woolwich, for the Excellent gunnery ship at
Portsmouth pro tem., but intended for service in the
turrets of the Royal Sovereign. One of these pieces
is rifled, and the other is a smooth bore. Both are
of Elswick manufacture. The performances of one
of Sir William Armstrong's smooth bore 100-poun-
ders, now under trial at Portsmouth, is likely to
attract considerable attention from artillerists. The
100-pounder Armstrong smoothbore gun is pretty
well known, but it may be as well to state here that
it weighs 8 tons 641 b., has a diameter of bore of
8.9 in., a length of bore of Bft. Bin., and an
exterior length of lift. 2in., with a circum-
ference at thickest part of base of Bft. Sin.
With this gun experiments have been commenced
with steel shot and shell, but they have not suffi-
ciently advanced yet to furnish any detailed report.
What has actually been accomplished is this :
Spherical and steel shot have been fired from the
gun with 201 b. of powder, only a fifth of the weight
of the shot, and have penetrated through a
51 inch armour-plate, bolted on the side of the
Monarch target ship, and also through the side of
the ship itself, covering the deck of the target ship
with splinters of the ship's planking, timbers, and
iron knees, fragments of the broken plate, and of
the steel shot itself which had broken into small
pieces in its course. Never, perhaps, was the want
of an inner iron skin inside the wood backing of a
ship's armour more forcibly illustrated. The result
demonstrates the insecurity which must exist in
time of action for the seamen working the guns of
ships of the Royal Oak class, and the security under
like circumstances for the men in the Warrior class
of ship. To fully realise the importance of this fact
of a spherical shot fired from a smoothbore gun
passing through a 51-inch armour-plate and the side
of a line-of-battle ship, it must be borne in mind that
this is the first known instance of the kind, and that
our greatest effarts in the same direction, which
have been made with the Armstrong 110 pounder
rifled gun and the 95cwt. 68 pounder smooth bore
have merely resulted in making an indentation of
2in. or less on the plate's surface; that is, when the
plate has been of equal quality with the plates
through which the steel shots penetrated. It must
not be thought, however, that the gun can claim the
entire credit of this result. In the majority of our
firing at wrought iron armour-plates we have dis-
charged with 161 b., 201 b., and at times, 251 b. of
powder 601 b. balls of soft gray cast iron. In firing
steel shot against wrought iron plates we have but
now taken up the principle we should have first
started with in the great contest of " guns against
armour-plates." It is evident that the destructive
penetrating power gained in these experimental fir-
ing trials is owing more to the nature of the projectile
than to the gun from which it was fired. If the War-
rior's side can therefore be destroyed by steel balls
fired from the old and despised 68 pounder, there
will be new data furnished for the study of our
artillerists and shipbuilders.
Yesterday the War Department transport Bom ar-
sund shipped a large quantity of condemned ord-
nance stores, guns, at Chatham for Woolwich,
and afterwards dropped down the river to the Go-
vernment powder magazines at Upnor Castle, where
she also shipped a quantity of condemned shell.
The work of cutting away the granite sides of
the dock at Chatham in which the Achilles has been
constructed is being rapidly pushed forward by a
body of workmen under the direction of Messrs.
Foord and Sons, in order that no delay may be ex-
perienced in having everything completed for float-
ing the iron frigate out of dock on the 24th inst. A
party of workmen have arrived at the dockyard
from the engineering establishment of Messrs. Penn
and Sons, Greenwich, in order to commence fitting
the screw machinery on board the Achilles before
she is undocked.
The mechanics and labourers of the dockyard and
arsenal at Woolwich yesterday commenced working
overtime, to compensate for the loss of the Satur-
day following Christmas-day, which is to be held as
a holiday, so as to close the establishments during
the three successive days.
The third experimental 600-pounder Armstrong
gun, similar to those forwarded to the Excellent at
Portsmouth, is now ready to be shipped at Wool-
wich for Shoeburyness.
The new Bellerophon target, which has been
fitted at Shoeburyness, under the superintendence
of Mr_ Baskcomb, one of the foremen of Chatham
dockyard, and a body of shipwrights, has been con-
structed by the Millwall Iron Company, and is in-
tended to represent as nearly as possible a portion
ofrfigthaetepf
wohpioeshedlissids been commenced at Chathame of the Bellerophon, increased
dockyard. Its trial is looked forward to with the
keenest interest, as on the results will mainly de-
pend the form of construction which the first of Mr.
's nevi ironcased frigates will take, The part
which is to be tested by the target is
oßfei thed ship
that situated between the main and lower decks and
not in the line of ports, the object being to ascer-
tain the strength of the general side of the ship. As
the Bellerophon is to carry only a small number of
guns, special arrangements will be made to
strengthen the side of the frigate near the ports.
As the number will be small, it will be possible to
strengthen them b Bich introduction of additional
could not be practicable if
iron to an extent w
the double
of
the number were large. Each frame of the target
is made of angle iron 10in, long, 3in. broad, and
Ti. n
d z,
thicknessi and two angle irons by 31,
inches,n thickness, rivetted together. 'To
d
gle irons of this frame the skin, which
is
icomposed o
pubosle an
edof two thicknesses of inch plating,
h i
anin .
painted canvass between, is rivetted.
On the outside of the skin plating four horizontal
angle iron stringers are attached, two under the
upper armour plate, Wein- long by 3A-in. wide, and
sin. thick, the broad flange being square to ,tho
skin, and not reaching out to the armour by
half an inch. The other two are placed
behind the lower plate, and are 10in. long,
tin. wide, and sin. thick. The breadth of the
broader flange being the same as the thick-
ness of the backing, reaches out to and comes in
contact with the armour. Wood backing, 10in,
thick, is worked longitudinally on the skin plating,
and between the angle-iron stringers, bolted with
nut and screw, bolt through the skin plating. The
armour consist of two rolled plates Gin. thick, weigh-
ing upwards of nine tons each. The upper armour-
plate is fixed with bolts 21; in. in diameter. In one-
half of the target, divided vertically, the armour-
bolts have elastic washers, and are clinched on single
nuts. In the other half, the bolts have co
washers, with double nuts, and the
Bellerophon
clinched. In the construction of the
• 0, shot and
target the mere capabilitiy of resistinr,
regard has also
shell has not alone been considered ; shatl
been had in arranging
and economical construction of an actual ship upon
the target care has been
the same plan. In erecting
its details to tbe satisfactory
taken to support it behind with beam ends, Sc., so
that thu actual condizion of the proposed ship's side
may be approxiumtod to as closely as possible. The

THE ARMY•
Several lectures and entertainments have been
provided during the past month for the non-com-
missioned officers and men of the Royal Dragoons
stationed at Aldershott, and it is intended to con-
tinue them every Friday evening during the winter

L:general court martial is ordered to assemble at
AClllttigloenys.al Marine Barracks, Forton, near Gosport, for
the trial of Capt. W. Cosser, paymaster of the Ports-
mouth diviion of Royal Marine Light Infantry, on
charges of defalcation of accounts.

AM.........

Arrival of the
touter at Queenstown,
S
QUN
Saturday Night.
Gibraltar, Captain wa;'
t,.‘ri Reed,
At six o'clock this evening 0e celebrated Sumter,
now called the
into the harbour, with a cargo of
tton,with which
steamed
she ran the blockade from Wilro ngton, North
Carolina. Having been introduced uno:er
peculiarly
favourable circumstances, I was most hos,nitably re-
ceived by Captain Reed, and had the
pie asure of
hearing from him an exclusive account of in;s out-
ward and homeward voyage, but reserve such par-
ticulars as I think should not be made public at
present. The vessel left Liverpool on the 4th of
July, and on the 15th August, when in sight of ORw
shore of North Caroline, one of the engines broker
down, and, after some delay, was repircd. Soon
after the accident Captain Reed went aloft, when
he saw three of the blockade squadron—one on the
starboard, one on the larnoard aide of hi©, and thestarboard,
other directly in front, and bearing down. Ile
captain, knowing it would be ruinous to seek to
evade scrutiny .a•-. once hoisted the American pennant
on the main, and the ensign on the peak, and bore
directly for the stearenu in front, passing so close to
her as to see men rep.airing their hammoclzs and,
some sails on deck. This bold course of proceed-
ing, and Captain Reed's ready response to the
hail of the Yankees, at once disarmed suspi-
cion, and the Gibraltar IVIS enabled to get
i
under cover of the guns of Fort Fisher, which
s
in the hands of the Confederates, without interrup—
tion, On account of the state of the tide the vessel
could not get past the bar of the port of Wilmington,
and her position soon attracted notice of the
flag-
ship outside. A number of shots being ,sired from
the flan-ahiP
three of the squadron joined .tier, and
the Gibraltar soon became the object of their' united
attentions. Forty-eight shots were fired, the greater
thtough the rigging,
number of them whistling kand
within 200 yards of the Gibraltar. She was enabled,
deliver t i de
hero tc getar g 00. u
Dt oafr
ihnogr
uhnowpleevaesra,notnpothsietiroinsi,
nagn do f
Capt. Reed's stay in Wilmington the town was paid,
a visit by President Davis, who was received with.
the greatest enthusiasm. Capt. Reed was required
in Charleston, and he describes the feeling there in
favour of " secesh" as most intense, the ladies espe-
cially being most enthusiastic, and so forgetful of
self that they disregarded General Beauregard's
injunction to leave the city and get out of the teach
of General Gillmore's Greek fire.
For some time after her arrival the Confederate
Government had under consideration the propriety
of taking the Gibraltar again into service, but OIL
account of the state of her boilers they deter-
mined to let her proceed. Having taken the
cotton on board and paid 1,500 dollars to a pilot
for the ran to Bermuda, the captain proceeded
down the bay, but got aground on the Rip in sight
of the blockading squadron, which was now in-
creased from four to seven vessels. The vessel being
got off an endeavour was made to get her down the
new inlet, but the pilot again got her aground, and
as she was now in close proximity to the squadron,
Captain Reed telegraphed his position up the bay
to the Confederate battery at Fort Oeswell. Three
launches, each having 20 meu on board, were at
once sent down to his protection, remaining by the
side of the ship lest she should be cut out, until the
third night, when the captain, having previously
taken the bearings of the flag ship, succeeded
getting oat. The Gibraltar reached Bermuda la,
two and a half days, and made Queenstown in 1')
days. Captain Reed left Wilmington on Nov. 14,
and brings Charleston papers to that date, together
with important dispatches.
runners ca
The captain reports four blockade
tured between Nov. 11 and 14. Another steamer,
in order to avoid capture, was Eet on fire by the crew,
The E. D. Vanceand Banshee succeeded in running
the blockade and getting into iimington safe.
The Sumter is now busily engaged in coaling,
and will proceed at once to Liverpool to deliver her
cargo, which consists of 330 bales of heavy cotton,
each weighing 8001 b.—Correspondent of Dublin
Express.

--_-:TI1E h
en BREATHthe Ia t
eO
iv
II . THE
RettAn CwTOalts
-- ---
APPLAUsE--t
when
f the United Start.es, he came top.—ethrle-
tha
have hoard
forming in eorne city )
the thirdact
manna
stage
at the end. of . . and said, " I can't go
-("); the stage again, sir, if the pit keeps its hands in its
„ekets. Such an audience would extinguish _/Etna." And
' saith that the
the story manager magi© his appearance on
the stage, and assured the audience that Mr. Kean, having
been accustomed to audiences more demonstrative than was
habitual to the severer intelligence of an assembly of Ame-
rican citizens, mistook their silent attention for disapproba-
tion; and in short that, if they did not applaud as Mr.
Kean bad been accustomed to be applauded, they could nut
have the gratification of seeing Mr. Kean act as he had
been accustomed to act. Of course the audience—though,
no doubt, with an elated sneer at the Britisher's vanity—
were too much interested in giving him fair play to with-
hold any longer the loud demonstration of their pleasure
1 when he did something to please them. As the fervour of
the audience rose, so did the genius of the actor, and the
contagion of their own applause redoubled their enjoy-
ment of the excellence it contributed to crcatc,—Sir Butwor
LAtoies caztoniana,