The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-07 00:00:00

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PRICE..... ...4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

The hired screw steam transport Cleopatra, Capt.
Croft, from Bermuda on the 19th ult., arrived in
Plymouth Sound yesterday. She brings Captain
Sotheby, C. 8., the commander, 30 officers, and 590
men belonging tp the Conqueror, 99, which was
wrecked on the 29th December. The remaining 20
officers and 210 men were to leave on tl'o Ist inst.
in the frigate Diadem. A court-martial, over which
Capt. llutton presided, held an inquiry, which was
continued for eight days. It terminated en the 15th
ult. Capt. Sotheby, Lieuts. St. Clair and Tornkins,
and Mr. Hay, a midshipman, were acquitted;
Lieut. Gammell, the officer of the watch, was ad-
monished ; and Mr. Thain, the ma,iter, WC'S repri-
manded. The loss was attributed to insufficient
allowance for leeway and to a westerly current.
There was no efficient night-glass on deck, and a
want of promptness in putting the ship about on
the appearance of land. The Cleopatra left at Ber-
muda her Majesty's ships Nile, Aboukir, Agamem-
non, Hero, Inamortalite, Melpomene, Diadem, Grey-
hound, Spiteful, Terror, Nimble, Landrail, Nettle,
Onyx, and the Cossack, which arrived on the 19th.
The Medea sailed on the 15th Feb. for New York,
and the Rinaldo on the 19th for the Chesapeake.
The Orlando, Liffey, and Orpheus were expected
from Halifax.

Grey, Mr. Rolt, Captain Ford, Mr. Scott Russell,
Mr. Laird, Mr. Mare, Mr. Samuda, Mr. Fairbairn
and Mr. Thomas Fairbairn, Mr. Langdon, &re.
The target was placed close on the right of the
Warrior target, which, all rusty and dinted here
and there in rough deep holes, showed signs of the
punishment it took so bravely last October. The
guns, six in number, were placed at a distance of
200 yards from the target, and consisted of one 12')
and three 100 pounder Armstrong guns, with two
68-pounder guns for solid shot.
The first experiment made was with three 100-
pounder Armstrongs, with 121 b charges, and shells
filled with sand, weighing 1041 b. each, and with
two 68-pounder guns, with 161 b. charge, and shells
filled with sand, weighing 501 b. each. These five
guns were fired at minute intervals, striking the
target on the lefthand of the port, and sending the
fragments of the broken missiles flying off with a
terrific hum through the air. Not much interest was
felt in this first attempt, as, judging by all previous
experiments, it was thought almost certain that no
damage could be done. Yet it is not too much to say
to those accustomed to see the effect of sand shell
on targets of such strength and magnitude, this
first result was considered conclusive as to its weak-
ness. An examination after these five shots were
fired showed that no less than eight of the main
boltheads which secured the plates had given way.
This was such a serious defection that it could only
be accounted for by supposing that the screw nuts
fastening the plates at the back of the target had
been drawn up too tight. The nuts were accord-
irgly slackened down, and a packing of lanyard
put between the armour plates and screw nuts of
many of the chief bolts to deaden the concussion,
and the trial was proceeded with. The same guns
were again fired with the same charges, but this
time with live shell, the Armstrongs having a burst-
ing charge of 81b., and the 68's a charge of 21b.,
with pillar and concussion fusees. Each shell ex-
ploded with a tremendous crash, and four more of
the armour-plate bolts were broken at the back of the
target, snapping off as short as if they were cast-
steel. The indent made by the shells was not very
much, though apparently more than was made by
the same missiles on the hammered plates of the
Warrior target, and on both the blows of the 68-
pounders had told with a severity in proportion to
the increased initial velocity of the smooth-bore
over the Armstrong guns. The latter have a slow
velocity of 1,100 feet per second, and maintain this
rate for a long time, while the former start at once
at the rate of 1,650 feet per second, but, after the
first 300 yards, lose their -velocity -with every 100
yards traversed beyond the pointblank range. Un.
der this experiment one of the plates, which had
been previously struck by the sand-shell on the left
of the port, had buckled out about an inch and a
quarter, and the whole appearance of the target
showed that it could not stand long. The firing
was then continued with one 120-pounder Arm-
strong, with a 201 b charge and 1401 b solid shot,
three 100-pounders, with 141 b charge and 1101 b
solid shot, and one solid 68-pounder. The result of
this trial was almost conclusive. The 140-pounder
struck with a terrific blow between the edges of the
top and middle plates, making a deep dint. The
second struck on precisely the same spot, deepening
still further the dint, breaking the fibres
the iron,
and cracking the top and middle plates up to the
nearest bolt-heads. The third shot struck in the
middle plate, but the fourth hit again exactly in the
same spot where the first and second had gone
before, and with a crushing noise went right through
the target, leaving a rugged, large, irregular hole,
which, if made in a vessel at or near the water-line,
would have caused a formidable leak. The shot
penetrated not only the plate, but the strap of
wrought-iron behind the bolts, nine inches wide
and three-quarters of an inch thick, and beyond this
again bent one of the main ribs outwards. The frac-
ture of the iron showed that the iron itself wee of
excellent quality, but there was evidently not the
same compactness that is produced by hammered
plates, and the rust was distinctly visible between
the layers of the iron. Eight more bolts, too, went at
this trial, breaking as short as the former had done,
but only one of the rivet heads started. It was an ex-
traordinary piece of ill-luck for this target to get
three shots in succession in its weakest part, but so
it did actually happen, and the last went through.
The next trial was made with three 100-pounders
throwing solid cast-iron shot of 2001 b, with 101 b of
powder. These all hit in the left hand side of the
target, buckling out the plate they struck till the
ends projected nearly a foot, and destroying all, or
nearly all, of the remaining bolt heads in the other
plates. This ended the first portion of the experi-
ments, which, when against targets, are always
made at Shoeburyness with shots of increasing
weight fired singly, and then the same charges
fired in salvoes together. But it was seen, after the
last trial, that it was useless to proceed with the
salvoes ; for as nearly all the bolt heads retaining
the plates had been broken off, it was evident that
the first salvo would bring the whole mass to the
ground. The firing was therefore discontinued, and
the target thus practically struck its flag at the
conclusion of the first half of the experiments. The
trial, on the whole, was considered unsatisfactory.
It was admitted on all hands that the target as con-
structed had most undoubtedly failed. But the chief
" iron men" attributed this failure partly to defects
in the mode of fastening and partly to the plates
used being rolled instead of hammered. The sup-
porters of the teak backing, on the other hand, at-
tributed the failure wholly to the absence of timber
betweon the armour and the skin, to distribute
and theirtributethe
force and deaden the jar upon the plat
fastenings. These gentlemen seem to have much
reason on their side when they pointed to the War-
riorri
n target, which had gone through every ordeal
l
g nearly
two days' pounding, and
was still
beyond n
beyond all comparison more perfect than the iron
one, which had broken down in little more than an
hour's firing. There is no doubt bet that Mr. Fair-
bairn's target was disproportioned in the strength
of its fastenings. It was suggested that a " washer"
between the screw heads of the belts and the armour
plating of a softer metal, such as lead or copper,
might have saved the bolts themselves from break-
ing, and that a packing of tarred felt between the
plates and the ribs would have deadened the concus-
sion as much as timber. These maybe worth trying,
though we think, with all-deference, that nothing
cheaper and more effectual will be found than the
timber backing. The chief value of these experi-
ments, however, is not so much to ascertain the
amount of iron required to resist the shot, as to
find out what description of fastenings will keep
the plate in its position when repeatedly struck.
The fastenings are, in fact, the ontlnyvgurlenaetradbiffilecuirlotyn
in the way of making perfectly
frigates. We venture to think that bolts of iron
might do the work. We don't say they
wwoirueld,
ropeb utas every other description of bolt has
been tried, and failed, it would be worth while ex-
perimenting to see what these could effect. They
might be fastened at the back by, driving an iron
nail-shaped wedge into the centre of the rope, and
then fusing and welding the wires into a rivet
head over this again. During these experiments,
enotlsd,
as during every other at Shoeburyness, the much
evident.
egn
ar greater forceb o r
e 6Bof
pttohhhuteen blowwdmea pounder
oesh over
re
iri
gknriflteohiagent inflicted
id
initial velocityrmstrong shotent. This
d
by h
is
af
partlydoub dueleits wteoig
of the smooth-bore guns, and partly to the fact that
the conical point of the Armstrong guns in nearly
breaks off short on striking the target.
Against
alit:es:iron targets or ships conical shot are about
the
effect of the
worst
that
Armstrongbe used, and, both to realise the
full
gun and to test to the
utmost the resistance of the target, it would be
better if flat-headed shat were used on these occa-
sions. It would also be as well if the Government
were to test a target lined with only nine inches
of teak, according to the plan on which the new
iron frigttes have been ordered. It would be'

Her
riding at
Majesty's screw steamship Rapid, latelyrabvueislt.
her bows
at Deptford, yesterday returned to Woolwich from
a trial of her machinery to the Nore. A court of
inquiry is ordered to sit at Woolwich for the par-
way and
r pose of ascertaining the the cause of a collision which
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she suddenly filled and sunk. The Rapid, which
sustained very trifling damage, was warped into
basin yesterday at Woolwich to be examined.
Mr. White, surgeon, of Finchley, carried out
some experiments yesterday in Portsmouth Dock-
yard with his improved diving
apparatus. The
chief features of this invention are the absence of
any air pump and the small cost of marufacture.
A means of communication by the voice is esta-
blished through a tube, which supplies the diver
with air from the surface. The experiments will be
resumed.

The Frederick William, screw liner, fitting for
the Ist class reserve at Portsmouth, was docked yes-
terday to examine her copper, valves, &c.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Dr. Wm. Johnston, assis-
tant-surgeon, confirmed, in the Desperate ; Thos. G.
Wilson, assistant•surgeon, additional, to the Vic-
tory ; Thomas Pullinger, assistant-paymaster, to the
Forte ; and Arthur Le B. Corrie, clerk, to the
Hawke.