The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-04 00:00:00

IHE NAVY.

A significant illustration of the reduction which
has taken place during the past few months in the
number of ships of war in commission has been ma-
nifested in the issuing of an order from the Admi-
ralty for the selection and preparation of some of
the vessels in the steam reserve at Portsmouth to do
duty as hulks, for the reception of seamen return-
ing fram leave after being paid off from a ship at
the end of her term of commission. The guardships
at the ports are generally looked upon as fully cap-
' able of performing this duty, but the Victory at
Portsmouth has had a tender attached to her for some
months in the Blonde frigate. Both vessels are now
filled up with men, and other and immediate pro-
vision being required for a large additional number
who have been paid off, and also for those about to
be paid off, from the Algiers, Arrogant, Amphion,
and other vessels, the order referred to is the re-
sult. A second order issued by the Admiralty di-
rects the Frederick William, 86, screw, to be held in
readiness for commission in May, 1863 ; the Esk,
21, screw, to be made ready for commission by the
same date; the Wasp, 16, screw, to be made ready
by September, 1863 ; the Bulldog, 6, paddle, also to
be ready by the same time as the Wasp; and the
Lyra, 9, screw, by October, 1863. The Frederick
William is a new ship, and is masted and rigged,
and will, therefore, be ready according to order.
The Esk, Lyra, and Bulldog are, however, just as
they were paid out of commission, and their de-
fects are so serious that they are just as likely to
be condemned and ordered to be broken up by the
e
time they are ordered to be ready for commission as
othuetflyta.reAtonobtheer ordertakn in
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fourrag oa, now
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in No 8 dock, directs " that she is to be got ready
for commission as soon as can be, without interfer-
ing with other work." All these vessels are on the
reserve lists of the port, and their condition illus-
trates that of the far greater portion of vessels in
the reserve. A digest of the four divisions of the
reserve at Portsmouth will fully demonstrate the
truth of this somewhat startling assertion. To
render this as plain as possible it is only necessary
to divide each division into " available" and " non-
available," including in the first named all those
vessels supposed to be perfect in hull and machi-
nery, and in the second all such vessels as require
repairs to both. In many instances their hulls are
a mass of rotten timber fore and aft, and therefore
of a class that never, under any circumstances, can
become "available" to the public service. Sepa-
rating the divisions in this manner they stand as
follows :-Of the Ist division the available ships are
the Duncan, 86 guns, 800-h. p. ; the Frederick
William, 86 guns, 500-h. p. ; the Pandora, 4 guns,
80-b. p. ; the Volcano (floating factory), 4 guns,
140-h. p ; eight gunboats (collectively), 16 guns
480-h. p. ; the total being 196 guns and 2,000-h. p.
The non-available ships of the division are the Esk,
21 guns, 250-b. p. ; the A imrod, 6 guns, 175-h. p.;
the total being 27 guns and 425-h. p. Of the 2d
division the available ships are the Victoria, 121
guns, 1,000-h. p.; the Princ) of Wales, 131 guns,
800-h. p.; the Nelson, 86 guns, 600-h. p. ; the
Duke of Wellington, 131 guns, 700-h. P. ;
the total being 469 guns, 3,000-h p. The non-avail-
able ships of this division are the Royal Sovereign
(converted to shield ship), 8 guns, 800-h. p. ; the
Highflyer, 21 guns, 250-h. p. ; the *lnflexible, 6
guns, 378-b. p. ; the Plumper, 6 guns, 60-h. p. ; the
Sharpshooter, 6 guns, 202-b. p. ; the total being 47
guns and 1,690. h. p. Of the 3d division the avail-
able ships are the Prince Regent, 86 guns, 600-h.
p. ; the Octavia, 50 guns, 500-h. p. ; the Glasgow,
50 guns ; the total being 186 guns, 1,500-h. p. The
non-available of tnis division of ships are the Han-
nibal, 86 guns, 450-h. p.; the Caesar, 86 guns, 400-
b, p. ; the Victoria Emmanuel, 86 guns, 600-h. p.;
the Agamemnon, 86 guns, 600-h. p. ; the Mersey, 40
guns, 1,000-h. p. ; the Diadem, 32 guns, 800-h. p. ;
the *Furious, 16 guns, 400-h. p. ; the *Sidon, 22
guns, 560,11. p. ; the Curagoa, 31 guns, 350-h. p. ;
the Cruiser, 17 guns, 60-h. p. ; the Wasp, 13
guns, 100-h. p. ; the Falcon,
17 guns, 100-h. p. ;
the Lyra, 9 guns, 60-h. p. ; the *Rosamond, 6
guns, 280-h. p. ; the *Vulture, 6 guns, 470-h. p. ;
the *Sampson, 6 guns, 467-13.1?- ; the *Fury, 6
guns, 515-h. p. ; the *Bulldog, 6 guns, 600-h. p. ;
parrow
the 5 hawk, 4 guns, 200-h. p. ; the Roebuck,