The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-08 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

VALETTA, May 2.—Her Majesty's screw transport
Himalaya, Capt. E. Lacy, left Malta, on the after-
noon of the 22d ult. with the 2d battalion of 7th
Royal Fusileers, under the command of Lieut.-Col.
J. H. Cooper, for Canada. The strength of the
battalion as embarked consisted of 31 officers and 804
non-commissioned officers and men, with 7 officers'
wives, 11 officers' children, 83 soldiers' wives, and
103 soldiers' children, amounting in all to 1,039
souls. She also had on board the Bishop of Gibral-
tar and his family, for Gibraltar, an Ensign of the
100th Regiment, and an Assistant-Superintendent
Storekeeper. The battalion has been relieved by
the 84th Regiment from Kingstown. Her Majesty's
ship Surprise, 4, Commander G. Tryon, left on the
same day for Tunis, to relieve the Tyrian, Lieut.-
Commander P. T. Murray, which returned to Malta
on the 26th. The Firefly, surveying vessel, Com-
mander G. R. Wilkinson, was still at the Goletta,
having been detained there owing to the weather
being unfavourable for commencing surveying
duties. There have been no further movements in
the squadron, except the departure of the Resist-
ance, iron frigate, and Cossack, screw corvette, for
a cruise and exercise. After a short absence they
returned into harbour. News was received to-day
that her Majesty's ship Caradoc had left Alexan-
dria, with the Duke. of Brabant, for Marseilles
direct. She was to return to Egypt for Sir Henry
Bulwer's disposal. At Athens everything con-
tinues
tranquil. Her Majesty's ship Gibraltar,
81; Meeanee, 60; Assurance, 4; and Wanderer, 4,
were lying at the Piraeus on April 22. The Magi-
cienne, 16, Capt. W. Armytage, met the Enchan-
tress, with Prince Arthur on board, at Smyrna on
the 14th. His Royal Highness, when last heard of,
was cruising in the Archipelago. The Magicienne
was at Athens on the 20th, and is expected back at
Malta shortly. The Weser, 6, gunboat, is also ex-
pected back here soon, and will probably be sold or
broken up. The Egyptian frigate Reshid arrived
on April 23 from Alexandria, on her way to Eng-
land to be fitted with screw machinery. She is under
the temporary command of Capt. J. W. Purchase,
and is manned by an English crew furnished by the
Peninsular and Oriental Company. Consul-General
Hay arrived last week from Crete, on his way to
Ma new sphere of duty at, Tripoli. He will leave to-
day in the Cossack for that place. Capt. Jones,
Capt. Holyoak, Major Balfour, Capt. Oldfield (15th
Regiment), Mr. J. Royle, R.N., and Capt. Moorson
arrived during the week. Mr. Williamson, R.N.,
Inspector of Machinery, and Capt. Fairfax, R.N.,
have takes their departure. Sir J. G. Le Dlarchant
and Sir Wilford Brett arrived by the Poonah from
Marseilles, and went on in the same vessel for Alex-
andria, en route to Madras. Satisfactory news has
been received of the operations of the Fanny Lam-
bert, and it is confidently hoped that telegraphic
communication with Alexandria will be restored
very shortly. The 2d battalion 22d Regiment has
received its orders to proceed to the Mauritius, and
will be replaced here by the 29th: The French line
of steamers running between Marseilles and Malta,
via Italy and Sicily, is about to be discontinued—at
least as far as Malta is concerned. We are as yet
without information as to what new arrangements
will be made. All that we at present know was
received last week from the agent at Marseilles
by telegraph—namely, that the last departure will
take place on the 14th of May. Her Majesty's ship
Phcebe, 35, Capt. T. D. A. Fortescue, now at
Naples, has been placed at the disposal of the Prince
and Princess Hohenlohe, and is to convey their
Serene Highnesses to Marseilles.

The screw steam frigate Liverpool, 39, Capt.
Rowley Lambert, from Portland, arrived in Ply-
mouth Sound on Friday evening, and, having trans-
ferred some seamen to the receiving ship, left on
Saturday morning for Dublin, where she will be in
attendance on the Prince of Wales during the visit
of his Royal Highness to the Exhibition.
The Lords of the Admiralty have decided on
adopting the turret in connexion with the broadside
principle in the iron-plated frigate Hercules, the
order for the commencement of which has been re-
ceived at Chatham. The vessel is to be built from
the designs of Mr. E. J. Reed. The plan decided
upon is a central armour-plated battery for the
broadside 300-pounder and other guns, as in the
Bellerophon, just completed at Chatham, the Pallas
at Woolwich, and others of Mr. Reed's ships,
together with two turrets carried one aft and the
other forward. The drawings and moulds for the
Hercules are now being prepared, and no time will
be lost before she is commenced.

Her Majesty's screw line-of-battle ship St.
George, 51 guns, Captain Rice, arrived in Portland
Roads on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., to replace the
Frederick William as Coastguard ship, the latter
vessel having been removed to Queenstown for duty
in the middle of March last. The inhabitants of
Portland and Weymouth petitioned the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty to allow her Ma-
jesty's ship Liverpool, Capt Lambert, to remain at
Portland when the latter vessel was in the Roads
with the Channel squadron last month as a pro-
tection against any sudden rising of the con-
victs but, as the Liverpool was required for
service elsewhere, the petitioners' prayer could
not be granted. The arrival of the St. George,
however, as guardahip for the port, has given the
greatest satisfaction to the inhabitants generally.
_ _

In accordance with instructions received at Chat-
ham, the Reindeer, 17, one of the wooden vessels
lying idle on the stocks partially completed, has been
surveyed at the hands of the dockyard officials, pre-
paratory to her being finished, the present intention
of the Admiralty being that she shall be completed
to carry three or more guns of the largest calibre,
fore and aft, and one at her broadside.
The hired sailing transport Gen. Caulfield, Wm.
Richards commander, arrived at Spithead early on
Friday morning with invalided and time-expired
men on board from her Majesty's army in India.
Since the commencement of March the following
vessels were spoken :—March 3, in lat 34 18 S., lon.'
25 27 E., the James Russell, from Shanghai for
London, 61 days out ; March 17, in 22 16 S., 0 38
W., the Yorick, from Shanghai for Liverpool, 68
days out, and theDilkhoosh, from Foo-chow-foo for
London, 60 days out ; April 15, in 24 15 N., 46 33
W., the Elizabeth Hargreaves, from Valparaiso for
Liverpool ; and May 4, off St. Catherine's, Isle of
Wight, the Wagoola, from Hobart Town for Lon-
don. The invalid troops brought home by the Ge-
neral Caulfield consist of 103 men from different
regiments, besides six soldiers' wives and 21 children,
who disembarked yesterday afternoon, and were con-
veyed by Government steamer to the Royal Victoria
Hospital, Netley. There were also on board Capt.
Harcourt, 102 d Royal Madras Fusiliers, in command,
Lieut. C. D. Patterson, 21st Fusiliers; Ensign E. C.
Power, 105th Madras Light Infantry ; and Mrs.
Brown, widow of the late Major Brown.
The hired sailing transports Cospatrick, Com-
mander James A. Ehnslie, R.N.R., and Star of
India, Commander Morris, arrived at Spithead on
Saturday, with military invalids and time-expired
men from European regiments serving in India.
The
Cospatrick has brought 181 time-expired men,
12111 men invalided, 14 women, and 23 children.
The "leers accompanying the troops are—Capt.
Leithman, Il
*, in military charge, with Mrs.Leish-
man and two children . Staff-Surg. T. Clark, in
medical charge ; Lieut. Hammond, 4th King's Own
Regiment ••
I Lieut. Bridges, 103 d Foot ; Lieut.
Heathcote, 106th Foot
dthea;Lieut. Robertson, 6th Dra-
goon Guards. Two
occurred on the passage.
The Cospatrick sailed from Bombay on Feb. 3, and
March 3,
called in at St. Helena onspeaking the
following vessels, who signalled a desire to be re-
ported :—On Feb. 16, in lat. 0 40 S., long. 66 22
E., the bark Marion, from London for Bombay, 133
days out ; on March 1, in lat. 24 59 S., long. 65 57
E., the schooner Gizina, from SingaPole for Mont-
real, 29 days out ; and on the sth inst., off Port-
land, the Queen of the Bay, from Algoa Bay for
London, GO days out.
The Star of India's troop freight consists of 106
invalided men, 6 women, and 4 children ; 200time-
expired men, with 8 women and 12 children, ac-
companied by Capt. S. H. Hobbs, 79th Regiment,
in military charge ; Assist.-Surg. J. Folliott, in
medical charge ; Lieuts. 11. W. E. Puddon and W.
AY. Chard, Ist battalion 7th Foot ; and Lieut. W.
Fleming, 95th Foot. The Star of India embarked
her troops at Bombay Jan. 25, and Kurrachee Feb.

9, calling at St. Helena on March 28. The troops
from both the Cospatrick and the Star of Incia will
be transferred to Government steamers this morning
early at Spithead, the invalids being conveyed to
the Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley, and
the time-expired men forwarded on from Portsmouth
to the depots of their respective regiments.
A Circular Memorandum, dated from the Horse
Guards, April 25, 1865, notifies to the army that
the Secretary of State for War has consented to
grant to adjutants of regiments corps, and depot
battalions, the sum of 3s. for each recruit enlisted
at their head-quarters and finally approved.
Among the numerous articles rejected during the
period of " taking stock" in the departments of Wool-
wich Arsenal at the close of the financial year just
expired, and which are ordered for periodical sale by
auction, are three quarters of a million of shot bot-
toms, manufactured during the Crimean war, the
pattern of which is now pronounced obsolete.
Admiral Sir Edward Harvey, K.C.8., died on
Thursday, at Walmer, Kent, aged 82. The deceased
entered the navy in 1793, on board the Brunswick,
74, commanded by his father, Capt. John Harvey.
He afterwards was midshipman in the Prince of
Wales, 98, then bearing the flag of his uncle, Rear-
Admiral Henry Harvey. After being present at the
battle of Camperdown he became, in July, 1801,
lieutenant, and in that capacity he was in the South-
ampton at the capture of the Danish and Swedish
West India Islands in that year. As commander
(which rank he attained in January, 1808) of the
Cephalus, in 1809-10, he captured four French pri-
vateers, and, while employed in the defence of Sicily,
was engaged with the gunboats on the coast of Ca-
labria. In February, 1839, he was appointed to the
Implacable, 74, in the Mediterranean, where his
eminent services, in 1840, on the coast of Syria and
at the blockade of Alexandria, obtained for him
official thanks. He has not been afloat since the
Implacable was paid off in 1842. By the death of
Admiral Sir Edward Harvey, Vice Admiral Sir R.
Lambert Baynes, K.C.8., becomes Admiral ; Rear-
Admiral Richard L. Warren becomes a Vice-Ad-
miral ; and Capt. Wallace Houston is placed on the
Rear-Admiral's list. An Admiral's good service
pension is placed at the gift of the First Lord of the
Admiralty by the death of Admiral Sir Edward
Harvey, K.C.B.

In consequence of Capt. Houston obtaining flag
rank a captain's good service pension is vacant.
The following appointments and promotions have
been made at the Admiralty :—Friday--Tristram
Henry Barre Beresford, nominated to a naval ca-
detship ; F. J. Baron, acting second-class assistant-
engineer, additional, to the Serpent ; Richard S. Lee
and Grenville Fordham, promoted to be first-
class assist.-engineers. Saturday—Lieut. Henry
F. Yeatinan, to the Rattlesnake ; George Bellamy,
surg., additional, to the Cumberland ; James C.
Eastcott, surg., additional, to the Excellent ; W.
Anderson, surg., additional, to the Asia ; Archibald
L. Archer, surg., additional, to the Indus; Robert
W. Beaumont, surg., additional, to the Fisgard ;
Charles F. Godfrey, surg., additional, to the Vic-
tory ; Henry Macdonald, assist.-surg., to the Irre-
sistible ; Jeremiah A. Hatch, assist.-surg., to the
Terrible; Duncan HiLson, assist.-surg. additional, to
the Victory ; James Stewart, acting assist-surg., to
the Sphinx ; John T. Obree, chief engineer, to the
Cumberland, for the Tartar ; William H. Nicholson,
first-class assist.-engineer, additional, to the Cale-
donia ; and George Ball, acting second class, assist.-
engineer, to the Caledonia.

Launch of the Ironclad Frigate Bellerophon,

The launch of her Majesty's ironclad ship Bellerophon
marks another important step in advance made by our Ad-
miralty designers and shipbuilders in the reconstruction of
our navy. The Bellerophon is the first of a class of vessels
altogether different from that to which belong the Warrior,
Achilles, and Minotaur. The improvements adopted in her
construction, the result of all the experience we have
gained since the introduction of iron as a material for ships
of war, will, it is confidently anticipated, render her as
much superior to most of the existing armour-plated ships
as they were to the unarmoured vessels they have super-
seded. It has of late been the fashion with a certain class
of politicians to denounce the system of shipbuilding pur-
sued at the Royal dockyards, and to point to the rapidity
with which vessels are turned out and completed at private
shipbuilding establishments. So far, however, from the
comparison holding good with regard to Chatham dock-
yard, the rapidity with which the Bellerophon has been
constructed is altogether without a parallel. It is only a
year since the order for her construction and the draw-
ings and models were received at Chatham dockyard
from the Admiralty, the first piece of iron being lowered
into the graving dock on which the Bellerophon has been
built on the Bth of April, 1864, and yet the vessel left
the dock with a great portion of her armour-plating bolted
to her sides. So vast, however, are the present resources-
of Chatham dockyard for the construction of ironclad
vessels that during the same period another armour-plated
frigate, the Lord Warden, of somewhat larger dimensions
than the Bellerophon, has been built and will be launched in
the course of two or three weeks. But, notwithstanding the
rapidity with which the Bellerophon has been turned out,
the important element of strength has not been over-
looked, and from the improved system of construction
adopted by Mr. Reed, it is not too much to say that no
vessel has ever left the hands of her builders of greater
strength and rigidity. Her offensive and defensive resources
surpass those of every other vessel afloat. Detailed descrip-
tions of the frigate having been given from time to time in
The Sun during her progress, it will only be necessary here
to glance at the mode in which she has been constructed.
Hitherto theuse of iron as a material for vessels of war has
not been unattended with its drawbacks. The principal of
these is the weakness of the bottom of iron vessels below
the water-line, rendering the slightest casualty to them
nearly always fatal. While the sides of iron ships can be
protected with almost any thickness of armour-plates, it is
not possible, even if it were expedient, to carry the plates
down to the keel, for no ship so treated could keep afloat
for an hour. It has, therefore, been hitherto considered
necessary to divide iron ships of war into a number of
separate compartments, each in turn divided from the other
by watertight bulkheads, by which this advantage is se-
cured,—that in the event of any tearing asunder of the
plates of the bottom the water would only fill the adjacent
compartment, leaving the other portion of the vessel still
buoyant. Many disadvantages, however, attend the prin-
ciple of constructing iron ships with bulkheads, not the
least of which are the defective arrangements thereby caused
for ventilation, to the serious effects of which the Admiralty
have been for some time anxiously alive. In the Bellero-
phon, however, all this is altered, that vessel being con-
structed on the double bottom principle. Thisis effected by
constructing the frigate with two bottoms, some 4ft. apart.
The space between—and it is here that one of the chief ele-
ments of strength is to be found—is divided into a vast
number of cells, not unlike the bottom of the Great East-
ern, with this important addition, however, that each cell
is crossed longitudinally and tranversely by girders which
render the ship's bottom as stiff and rigid as if consisting
of one piece of iron. Carried up far out of the water are
what may be termed watertight internal walls which com-
plete the double bottom, thus rendering the vessel, as re-
marked, a double ship from end to end. From what has
been stated it will at once be apparent that watertight
bulkheads will not be required with this system of con-
struction, since no ordinary injury could in any way jeo-
pardise the safety of a ship so built. It has been deter-
mined that no possible precaution shall be spared to render
the vessel secure from any accident whatever, and she is
accordingly furnished with some few bulkheads, which,
however, are so placed as not to interfere with the free and
ample circulation of air throughout the ship. The Belle-
rophon is the first vessel yet constructed carrying armour-
plates of 6in. in thickness, the maximum thickness of ar-
mour which it has hitherto been deemed expedient to use
being 44in., and in the case of the Minotaur slin. The
total thickness of iron, however, enclosing the sides of the
Bellerophon is 7iin., in addition to tho timber backing.
Unlike the Achilles and other ironclads recently built,
the Bellerophon has, rightly or wrongly, a backing of only
10in. timber behind her armour plates, although recent
experiments with the Chalmer's and other targets would
seem to prove that the amount of resistance of armour
to shot depends generally less on the thickness of the
plate than on the thickness and construction of the
backing. The diminution in the thickness of the teak
backing is, however, considered to be more than compen-
sated by an additional inch and a half thickness of wrought
iron plates, which form, as it were, the inner skin of the
vessel, rivetted to the ordinary frame to which it is worked.
The 6-inch armour-plates are placed six feet below the
load water line, and are carried to the maindeck through-
out, and to the upper deck in the centralind fore batteries.
In the other portion of the vessel, whore the chances of
shot striking the ship are reduced to a minimum, the plates
taper in thickness, and under the counter are no more than
two inches thick. The whole of the plates are of the best
description of rolled iron, and have been manufactured by
the Millwall Iron Company. The total quantity of
armour-plating the Bellerophon will carry is 1,073 tons, of
which exactly 400 tons, or rather more than one-third of
the whole quantity, has been already bolted to her port and
starboardstarboard sides. The fore and aft end of the midship
will brey'plwa cheed, re
a :Sr o;
ootfectethde
b3yomo-epoanusnodfearrmArmstrong guns
bulk-
heads, the plates of which are sin. in thickness, carried up
to the top of the gun-deck. On this deck will also be
placed it couple of the 110-pounder Armstrongs, within

the protection of the battery, together with threes 110-
pounders not protected. On the upper deck will be placed
a single 40-pounder Armstrong. Not the least striking
feature in the Bellerophon is the arrangement made by
Mr. Reed to enable the frigate to carry a bow battery—an
important feature until recently altogether overlooked in
the construction of our vessels of war. The importance
of being able to serve the guns in such a position cannot
be over estimated, and nautical men will at once under-
stand the immense advantage of being able to fire the
guns right ahead, and in a line with the ship's keel.
The Bellerophon is built with strikingly flat sections,
on what is now known as the U-shaped, in con-
tradistinction to the V-shaped principle. In a vessel like
the Bellerophon it is obvious that her tendency to roll will
be greatly accelerated by the weight of the armour. The
principle adopted by Mr. Reed will, it is anticipated, over-
come this, and, as the Bellerophon is intended to be, in all
respects, a thorough seagoing as well as a fighting ship,
the advantages of the principle must be evident. The fol-
lowing are her principal dimensions :—Length between
perpendiculars, 300 ft.; extreme breadth, 56ft. lin.; burden,
4,270 27-94 tons (builder's measurement); load draught of
water, 26ft. aft, 211 t. forward. At the time of her launch
her displacement was calculated at between 6,000 and 7,000
tons. The exact weight of the ship at floating was found to
be 3,100 tons, of which 3,050 tons are worked into the hull
of the frigate. The whole of this has been accomplished
in the comparatively brief space of 54 weeks, which is at
the rate of 561 tons of material per week. This average
rate of production in a single ship, and that, too, continued
through an entire year, is altogether unprecedented in the
history of iron shipbuilding. The total quantity of backing
and other wood in the ship is only 115 tons. The ports on
the gundeck battery are exceedingly narrow, but at the
same time sufficiently large for the training of the 300-
pounders. They are well up out of the water, and when
at her deep-sea draught the bottom of the port sills will be
9ft. above the water. The main deck, or deck at upper
armour-line, is plated throughout with half-inch wrought-
iron plates under the 4in. deck. The upper deck is also
plated throughout its entire length with plates of steel
half-an-inch in thickness, tapering at the extremities to
counteract the effects of liquid shot falling on the deck.
Additional strength and rigidity are imparted to the ship
by massive iron cross-deck beams. All the decks are com-
modious and lofty, the height under the beams in the bat-
tery being 6ft. 61in. ; the height under the beams on the
berth-deck 7ft. 9in., and height on the lower deck 6ft. The
Bellerophon is built with a long projecting stem, thrust
forward some l2ft. from the " tumble-home " bow. This
method of construction answers the twofold purpose of
giving buoyancy to the forward battery, carried high above
the deck, and at the same time will enable the frigate to be
used as a ram should she ever be placed in circumstances to
render that method of naval combat necessary. The length
of the engine-room is 40ft., that of the fore boiler-room
36ft., and the after boiler-room 40ft. From the fore end of
the stokehold to the after end of the screw shaft the length
is 235 ft. The engines, which have been constructed for the
Bellerophon by Messrs. John Penn and Sons, are of 1,000-
horse power nominal, but with the recent improvements
introduced will be capable of working up to 6,000 actual
horse-power. They will have a force sufficient to drive
the frigate through the water at an average speed of 14
knots—that is to say, nearly 16 statute miles per hour. The
weight of the machinery with the boilers filled is 935 tons.
The bunkers are capable of stowing 650 tons of coal, or
about a week's consumption with full steaming. The fact
of the Bellerophon being without a rudder-post gives the
stern a projecting, over-hanging appearance, while the way
in which she is rounded off appears to be the very per-
fection of ugliness, quite overturning the notions gene-
rally formed as to the correct shape of a vessel's stern.
She is intended to be fitted with the " balanced rudder,"
invented many years since by Lord Stanhope, but not
until recently adopted in the Royal Navy. This rudder,
instead of being attached to a rudder-post, is supported
from the deck, while the lower end passes into a prolonga-
tion of the plates of the keel. After the launch the Bel-
lerophon was moored alongside the dockyard, where she
will receive on board her engines and machinery, after
which she will be placed in dock, to be fitted with the
remainder of her armour-plating and to be equipped for
sea. Another large ironclad frigate, to be named the
Hercules, with armour-plates of 9in. in thinkness, is to be
immediately commenced in the same dock.