The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-04 00:00:00

STRENGTH OF THE NAVAL FORCES OF

FRANCE.

The reports of Captain Hore, R N., on the
strength of the French navy, and those of Colonel
Claremont on the strength of the French navy,
were published yesterday as papers presented to
Parliament by command.

On the Ist of January tho state of the French
steam navy was as follows:

Afloat. Building. Total.
Ships of the line .... 36 .. 1 .. 37
Frigates, iron-plated...... 6 .. 10 .. 16
Frigates, screw
.. 5 .. 29
Frigate, paddle* • ... 18 .. _ 18

Corvettes, screw
Corvettes, paddlo -
Avisos, screw 35 • • 9
1 .. 36
Avisos, paddle
Iron-plated floating bat-
teries

Gunboats oats . 53 .. _
.. 5

34 .: : 415
Transports

Of the foregoing there were commisioned :
Ships of the line
Frigates, iron-plated.... 4 Avisos, paddle
Frigates, screw
Frigates, paddle 6 Transports ..
Corvettes, screw
Corvettes, paddle

Total 172

Captain Hore reports that the sailing navy of
our allies consists of 122 vessels, of which 63 are in
eommiasion ; but his analysis of these need not de-
tain us from a more important object, the number,
power, and state of advancement of the iron..plated
frigates and batteries building in France. Captain
Hore's information from Toulon appears to come
down only to the 12th of December last, and from
Brest to September 30; but he visited Lorient,
Bordeaux, Rochefort, and Nantes in May last.
From the two first ports there are the following

returns:—
At Toulon there was building :
Provence, 36 guns, 300-horse power; state of advance
ment, seven twenty-fourths. A fair number of men were
employed on this vessel, which is to be finished first of those
aL :1-0111011.

Savoie, 36 guns, 900-horse power ; advancement, six
twenty-fourths.
Revanche, 36 guns, 900-horse power; advancement, five
twenty-fourths. Very few men were working on these two
vessels.
Flandre, 34 guns, 900-horse power; frame all up, filling
in timbers between the ribs. Progressing slowly.
At Brest :
Gauloise, 36 guns, 900-horse power; whole frame up,
but little doing.
Magnaninie, 36 guns, 900-horse power; in same stage as
preceding.
Valeureuse, 36 guns, 900-horse power; frame nearly all
up.

The other iron-plated vessels are building at
Lorient, Bordeaux, Rochefort, and Nantes ; the
following is Captain Hore's report of his visit to
those places :
LORIENT.—The iron-plated frigates building at this port
are the t.urveillante and Heroine, both of which are about
8-24 advanced. The former is of wood, the lat er of iron,
and is of similar construction to the Couronne, except that
the upper plates will be 4} inches and the lower ones 6
inches thick, those of the Couronne being relatively 3 and
42 inches.
The keel of the Heroine is Iced, and all the ribs and most
of the beams are ready for putting up. No time is named
for launching these vessels, nor are there many workmen
employed on therm.
The Solferino, of 52 guns, on two decks, is fitting along-
side the quay ; nearly ail her plates are fixed, but the iron
spur with which her bow is to be armed has not yet arrived
from Rive de Gier, where it is being forged. The delay
has been caused by an alteration; originally it was to have
been of 27 tons weight, but it is now reduced to 16 tons; the
delay is a serious inconvenience, as no more weights can be
put into the vessel until the spur is fixed. A similar deten-
tion has been caused at Brest on account of the non-deli-
very of the spur of the Magenta. The engines of the
Solferino are being mounted, and she is masted, but it will
be three months before she will be ready for trial. The four
lower rows of armour extend from stem to stern to the
height of the lower deck portsills ; 13 ports on each deck are
plated, leaving at each extremity a length of about 16 metres
(53 feet) unprotected. The face of plating amidships consists
of 10 rows, of which 3 rows are of 95 centimetres and 7 of
70 centimetres wide, making a depth of 24 feet 3 inches.
The head of the rudder enters the hull about 3 feet below
the water line, but great difficulty is found in putting the
tiller Within the protection of the armour, and as yet no plan
has been settled for so doing. Two athwart ship bulk-heads
plated with 3-inch iron separate the plated portions of the
deck from the extremities. The ports are 2 feet 3 inches
wide on the outside, and 2 feet 3 inches high ; the ship's
side, including the armour, is 2 feet 4 inches thick.
The draft of water will be 27 feet 6 inches aft and 23 for-
ward. The extreme length is 282 feet; width, 54 feet; and
depth of hold, 26 feet 9 inches. Engines of 1,000 horse.
power; the propeller x-bladed, of about 22 feet diameter.
On the upper deck is an iron-plated tower to contain the
wheel.

A screw corvette named the Decres, of 10 guns, and the
Diligen e gunboat, are the only other vessels building.
Since I last visited Lorient six large wooden buildings have
been erected for the machinery required for building iron
vessels. The fine dry dock that was building in 1860 is
now finished, but it is not yet of service for large vessels on
account of a rock that lies at its entrance. From this cause
the Couronne had to be sent to Cherbourg to be docked.
The only vessels fitting are the Pallas frigate, and Cos-
mao, corvette; the former is armed throughput with rifled
guns, and is to replace the present flag-ship on the China
station.

ROCHEFORT.—The Guinne, iron-plated frigate, building
at this port, is 11.24 advanced ; no time is named for
launching her, and only 30 men are employed on her.
The Intrepide, the only line-of-battle ship now building
in France, is in the same state as 18 months ago. The
Fiore, screw frigate, and the transports C, euze and Cm- •
reze are nearly ready for launching. The Favourite, Che-
vert, and Euryale, sailing vessels, are still on the stocks.
The floating batteries Peiho and Saignon are in a dry
dock. The stern posts and rudders have been removed,
and large lee-boards are being fitted for steering them, the
rudders having been found useless. They attained a speed
of knots, The other two of the same class are not yet
launched—the Palestro is plated, but the Paixhans is not
so far advanced.
These four vessels, and the seven iron vessels ordered,
are intended for the defence of the mouths of the Gironde,
Loire, and Seine, and are nut intended for sea service.
The Semiramis, screw frigate of 3d guns, is being fitted
to replace the Bayard, ship of the line, that has received
damage in the Straits of Magellan. She is armed through-
out with rifled guns.
A military commission has just been nominated to exa-
mine the question of revetting shore batteries with iron,
and important experiments are to be tried against a fort at
the mouth a the Charente, which is t be revetted with
plates 25 centimetres (9 inches) thick.
NANTES AND LORDEAUX.—At Nantes three of the seven
iron-plated iron floating batteries are being built in Messrs.
Gouin and Guib.rt's factory, and the four others in that of
M. Armen at Bordeaux, They are only just commenced,
and the contracts are to complete them in 18 mouths.
They are moditications of the Peiho class, being shorter
and broader, and are to carry 8 instead of 14 guns
In the river there is a small vessel taking in an engine
for making experiments, on a novel plan of construction,
designed by a M. Brassin, who is a shipbuilder on a small
scale on the Gironde. She is about 6U feet long and 12
wide; the draught of water is nut to be above two feet six
inches. The object is to obtain great power by the use of
two screws, and light draught of water. Tu effect this,
from the middle of the ship aft she is divided into two por-
tions. The fore part of the vessel is very fiat, but has a
fine entrance. There are three keels. From the middle
of the vessel the centre keel rises gradually nearly to the
taffrail; the other two are continued; and thus the atter
part of the vessel becomes divided, and has the appearance
of two vessels joined at a short distance above the water-
line. This vessel, when ready, is to be brought to Paris.
A model of a frigate on the same plan has been made.
The Eure and Arckehe are taking in their engines; and
two other similar transports, the Var and the Drome, are
still on the stocks near Bordeaux,

(Signed) E. HORE.

Paris, May 18, 1862.

* Five of these are small v9ssels, built in comp trtments,
and can be taken to pieces for the purposes of easy trans•
poz t.

A few days ago, a young man named Edward
Lyons, while out shooting rabbits at Ballytoil, Kilkenny,
thought he saw a rabbit under a bush, when he fired, and
shot a person named James Tierney. The wound proved
fatal. •

toonß.gaorriiet through,
A FRENCH NOTION OF A LONDON BLOCKADE.—
M. Kaliet writes to a Parisian journal :—" I went in one
of the most execrable of cabriolets to meet Estofel and
family at the Chemen de Fer, and was four wernal hours
travelling from Charon Cros. The English are great
grumblers. One of their fond complaints is the stoppage
of their streets. Theyand airmeperveisdaeaantltyheprfoouredigonferthlis
Ittrati;
It is magnifique,
much,
r i —t weret
h a t
grown by its very solidarity into an instiatvueti
got rid of to -morrow, they would miss it veryand
more they would grumble. From Temple
nt of streets, the
aeye d of the
th eneedle a
narrowest
t Laonrdi d omnn
most
icamelsimportant
rht
a,
principal citizens who should remedy the evil are the
greatest culprits. At Banking-houses, unlading gold—at
naughty Punch—again, where four streets meet up-hill
Ludgate, at the frontage store, Osborne, a long stop for
merchandise (lucky man to be born with the
namecaravans
down Sheapside, and even at
stop everywhere! and this at Collards, and alt
.the seat of the Mayor, stop—
Money." Here is some truthinat alasnta.Lioznerwahirte.re Time is