The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-25 00:00:00

AN ADMIRAL A SECRETARY TO A GENERAL.

There is no mistake about the matter, that Rear-
Admiral Houston Stewart, C. 8., has accepted the ap-
pointment of secretary to Lieut.-General Lord Raglan.
It is officially announced in the following general
order :

" Deputy Adjutant General's Office,
Woolwich, Jan. 20, 1853.
"His Lordship the Master General has been pleased
to appoint Rear-Admiral Houston Stewart, C. 8., to be
his secretary.
"H. D. ROSS, Deputy Adjutant General."

We should not be at all surprised to hear next of the
appointment of Lord John Russell to the command of
the Channel fleet, with Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Napier
as his secretary, and Mr. Gladstone as the chaplain of
the flagship.—Herald.

PLYMOUTH, JAN. 24.
Her Majesty's steam-vessel Argus, Commander Richd.
Purvis, having bent sails, will proceed from Hamoaze
into the Sound to-day. She is ordered to the East
Indies.

The General Sere* Steam Shipping Company's mail-
ship Hydaspes, due hero to-day from Southampton, is
not yet arrived. She is appointed to lea're Plymouth
to-morrow (Tuesday) for the Cape of Good Hope and
Calcutta.

SHEERNESS, JAN. 24,

The Phaeton, 50-gun frigate, Captain George Elliot.
—The arrival of this frigate here to pay off has brought
several scientific and naval gentlemen (not only of our
own country but foreigners) here to inspect her, both as
regards her hull and rigging. The particular inquiry of
most of them has been as to the new mode of set-
ting up, or easing off, her lower standing rigging, as
occasion requires. This is done by Rigmaiden's plates.
The following statement of the results of trials, in ad-
dition to those before given, may prove interesting, not
only to the naval depnrtment, but also to the maritime
world. The frigates of the squadron, under the com-
mand of Commodore Win. F. Martin, are first com-
pared with each other. The result of the trials, by the
wind, assigns to the frigates the following relative
order _ _ . _ _

4. Indefatigable.
5. Leander.

1. Phaeton.
2. Arethusa.
3. Thetis.
In such breezes as gave the Phaeton a speed of from
9 to 10 knots with smooth water, her gain over the Are-
thusa was about 500 fathoms an hour in the direction of
the wind.
The Arethusa, under similar circumstances, gained on
the Leander about 500 fathoms an hour. With a speed
6,7, and 81 knots the Phaeton gained over the Arethusa
in the direction of the wind about 500 fathoms an hour.
On these latter occasions the average gain of the Are-
thusa over the Leander was 300 fathoms an hour in the
direction of the wind. With a speed of from five to six
knots, the Phaeton gained on the Arethusa about 550
fathoms an hour in the direction of the wind.
With respect to sailing "on a wind," the ships of the
squadron have taken the following places :-
1. Pheaton. 5. Arrogant.
2. Arethusa. 6. Leander.
3. Thetis. 7. Dauntless.
4. Indefatigable. 8. Encounter.
The trials " off the wind" place the frigates in the fol
lowing order :

4. Leander.
5. Thetis.

1. Phaeton
2. Indefatigable.
3. Arethasa.
During the first cruise, before the Phaeton and Are-
thusa joined the squadron, the Leander took her place
before the Thetis and Indefatigable. In a breeze which
gave the Leander a speed of 10 knots, she gained on the
Thetis 167 fathoms an hour. On this occasion the Thetis
gained on the Indefatigable 577 fathoms an hour. In
breezes which gave the Phaeton a speed of from 4 to 7
and 81 knots, she gained on the Arethusa 500 fathoms
an hour. The Arethusa, under similar circumstances,
gained on the Leander about 300 fathoms an hour.
When the squadron was in order of sailing, with the
wind on the port beam, in force 7 (that is, a moderate
gale, in which the same ship could just carry close hauled
double reefs, jib, &c.), with squalls, the Leander, under
treble-reefed fore and mizen topsails, double-reefed main
topsail, main topgallant sail, and courses, was going.lo
knots. Sailing off the wind, the ships of the squadron
took the following places :-
1. Phaeton 5. Leander
2. Indefatigable 6. Dauntless
3. Arethusa. 7. Thetis
4. Arrogant 8. Encounter.
Tho steerage of the Thetis, Phaeton, Leander, Are-
thusa, and Indefatigable is very good. The best sailing
trim of the Phaeton is about one foot six inches by the
stern, and she then carries her helm from two spokes to
half a turn a-weather.
The best sailing trim of the Arethusa is about one foot
three inches by the stern, and she then carries her helm
from one spoke to half a turn a-weather.
The best sailing trim of the Indefatigable is from eight
to nine inches by the stern, and she then carries a mode-
rate weather helm.
The Leander's best sailing trim is about seven inches
by the stern, but she then carries a slack helm.
Tho Phaeton, Arethusa, Leander, and Thetis have
sufficient stability to carry all the sail that their masts
and yards will bear.
The average reported inclinations with breezes which
wera in force four to five (moderate and fresh breezes)
under all plain sail have been as follows, but owing to
the vibrations of the pendulums, these reports cannot be
considered as rigidly correct.
Deg. Deg.
Indefatigable •.
41 • •• • 6
A
rrogant...
51 Dauntless (no royals) 71
2
51

Arethnsa
Thetis S
Leander
Phaeton t.

RoHipp—The Phaeton IN

;Ha slowly and not deeply ;

the Leander rolls quickly, and in some bad weather she
rolled very deeply ; the Arethusa appears to roll more
than the Phaeton, but less than the Leander ; the Arro-
gant rolls easily and not deeply ; she was the easiest ship
in the squadron ; the Dauntless appeared to be a very
heavy roller, and.to lurch much ; the Indefatigable rolls
deeply.
With reference to the time occupied in stays, the ships
stood in the following order :—Thetis, Arethusa, Phae-
ton, Indefatigable, Leander, Arrogant, Dauntless.
Stowage.—After due compensation and allowances are
made for the differences of the fittings of the Phaeton
and the other frigates, their relative stowage may be
thus' contrasted :

The Leander% stowage is better than the Phaeton's by
27 days' bread for 500 men ; the Arethusa's stowage is
better than the Leander's by 31 days' bread for 500 men;
the Arethusa's stowage is better than the Phaeton's by
58 days' bread for 500 men ; the Indefatigable's stowage
is better than the Phaeton's by 83 days' bread for 500
men ; the Indefatigable's stowage is better than the Are-
thusa's by 25 days' bread for 500 men. The Arrogant
stows 100 days' bread, 112 days' provisions, and 70
days' water for 450 men.

The Dauntless stows 84 days' bread, 112 days' provi-
sions, and only 31 days' water for 270 men. She has
Grant's distilling apparatus on board, but that cannot be
taken into account where the stowage is a matter of
comparison with other ships.
Armament.—The Phaeton's upper-deck broadside
guns are much more clear of the rigging than those of
any other ship. Of all the frigates' bows, that of the
Leander is the best battery ; of their sterns that of the
Arethusa.

It must be borne in mind that in all probability every
ship, before long, will be fitted with a screw propeller.
The Phaeton's properties would be still more in her
favour than they are while she is propelled by canvass
only.
By displacing the ballast she now carries she may re-
ceive an engine without increased immersion. If a cer-
tain speed for each ship under steam should determine
the size of the engine, it is obvious, from the greater
ease with which the Phaeton is urged through the water,
she will require a smaller engine than the other ships,
and that the consequent expense of furnishing the ne-
cessary steam power will be less in her than in the other
frigates ; and as a less encroachment would be made on
her stowage than on any of the others', the existing dif-
ference under that head would be diminiShed.

The Arrogant has attracted general admiration ; she
sails well on all points, and her performance under steam
has been very good. She carries her guns high, and she
is easy. She has good accommodation for her officers
and men.

The Indefatigable stows more bread than the Arethusa
by 25 days ; Leander, by 56 days ; and Phaeton, by 83
days. The Arethusa stows m•re bread than the
Leander by 31 days, and the Phaeton by 58 days. The
Leander stows more bread than the Phaeton by 27
days.

Gallons of Days'
Water. lem eht.
The Leander can stow 45,024 Comp
... 60
The Phaeton
The Arethusa "
The Indefatigable
The Arrogant
The Dauntless "
The Encounter "
The water is calculated for every man at the rate of a
gallon and a half per day.
The Leander was constructed by Mr. Richard Blake,
master shipwright, Portsmouth, and was built at that
yard, 1848. The Phaeton was constructed by Mr.
White, private shipbuilder, at Cowes, and built at Dept-
ford, 1848. The Arethusa was constructed by Sir Wm.
Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy, and built at Pembroke,
1849. The Indefatigable was constructed by Mr. Wm.
Ede, master shipwright, Devonport, and built at that
yard, 1848. The Thetis was constructed by Messrs.
Read, Chatfield, and Creuze, foremen of the yard, late
School of Naval Architecture, and built at Devonport,
1846. The Arrogant and Dauntless were both con-
structed by Mr. John Fincham, master shipwright, of
Portsmouth-Yard, and were built there in 1848 and 1847.

WOOLWICH, Jew. 24.

APPOINTMENTS.

Naval Instructor—William Roy (1846), from the
Phaeton, 50, to the Amphion, steam-frigate, at Sheer-
ness.

Assistant-Engineers—Augustus Mills, to the Odin,
steam-frigate, at Portsmouth ; John Hinton, and W. A.
Murfin, to the Rhadamanthus, steam-transport, at
Portsmouth.

Clerk—Thomas S. Vinall (1846), to the Barracouta,
steam-sloop, at Sheerness.
The Resistance, troop-ship, Master-Commander Brad-
shaw, will be ready to embark troops at this port on
Wednesday, for conveyance to the West Indies. She is
to take out detachments of the Royal Artillery and 16th
Foot.

The Medina, Lieut.-Commander Louis R. Reynolds,
arrived at Woolwich to-day from the Mediterranean
Station, and is to be paid off here. She was immedi-
ately taken into the basin.
The Megnra, steam-frigate, Commander J. 0. John-
son, was taken out of dock to-day, and remains at moor-
ings in the river.
The Tribune, 30, recently launched at Sheerness, has
been taken into the inner basin and placed under the
shears to have her boilers and machinery put on board.