The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-27 00:00:00

THE NAVE

The reduction in the head spars of the Warrior
and Black Prince is ordered to be carried out accord-
ing to the following scale :—Bowsprits--To be re-
duced from 49 feet length and 40 inches diameter
to 25 feet in length and 24 inches diameter. Jib-
booms :—To be reduced from 49 feet length and 16
inches diameter to 42 feet length and 131 inches
diameter. Flying jibboums—To be reduced from
52 feet length and 8 inches diameter to 44 9-12
feet length and 71 inches diameter. Both ships are
being fitted with a second pair of cat, or fish heads,
by which the anchor will be carried some 20 feet
farther aft than is the case at present. Those for
the Black Prince are on the point of completion in
the blacksmith's shop of Portsmouth Dockyard, and
are two fine specimens of smith's work.. Each cat-
head weighs 415 cwt.; the length is 15 feet ; width
at top of sheave holes, 14 inches ; at bottom of rivet-
ing to ship's side, 211 inches; breadth of side plates
at widest part 26 inches, and 2- inch thick; thick-
ness of outside plates for sheave holes, 11 inch; angle
iron for framing, 4 inches by inch thick ; angle
iron to form connexion with side of the ship, 5
inches by -2- inch thick ; diameter of rivets, 15-16
inch ; distance apart of rivet holes, measuring from
centre to centre, 42 inches. They have been made
under the superintendence of Mr. Wells, the master
smith of the dockyard, and their manufacture re-
flects great credit upon him for the skill and neat-
ness with which they have been put together. The
Black Prince is ordered to be fitted with an auxi-
liary boiler to work the auxiliary engine, without
interfering in any way with the main boilers at-
tached to the ship's engines. This auxiliary boiler
will supply steam to the engine for working the
steam capstan and fire engines, yard whips, &c. It
will be fixed in the forepart of the engine room on
the starboard side. The ship will be undocked in
about a fortnight, and taken out to Spithead to test
her enlarged rudder under steam. Should it be found
to answer as it is expected to do, the temporary
wooden casing with which it is now fitted will be
replaced by iron plating. April 30 was the time ori-
ginally named for the Black Prince to be out of the
hands of the dockyard, but it is now proposed to
extend this time until the same date in June.

' The ',Hector, 32, iron frigate, of 4,063 tons and
800 horse power, building at Glasgow, when
launched is ordered to be taken round to Portsmouth,
where the following armament will be prepared for
her :—Main deck-24 68-pounder smooth bore guns
of 95 cwt. each, and 6 100-pounder Armstrongs of
82 cwt. each,all on rear chock carriages with direct-
ing bars. For boats—Two 20-pounder Armstrongs
of 13 cwt. each, and one 9-pounder Armstrong of 6
cwt. Field guns—one 12-pounder Armstrong of 8
cwt. ; one 6-pounder, smooth bore, for short prac-
tice, with elevating carriage ; and one field carriage
and limber to carry a 20-pounder Armstrong. It
will be observed that while no mention is made of
guns for the upper deck, six 100-pounder Arm-
strongs are fixed as part complement for the main
deck, notwithstanding that past experience proves
that Armstrong guns, from their breaking of breech
pieces, and consequent escape of gases and explo-
sions abaft, are unsuited for a ship's main deck. In
fact, a strong feeling exists among naval officers
that the Armstrong guns, with their present com-
plication of parts behind the chambers, and the pre-
sent imperfect mode of closing the breech, are un-
suited for naval service, except when placed on a
ship's upper deck, where they may be useful for
purposes of chase, or throwing a projectile a long
distance, and where, should an explosion take place,
the broken breach and gases may escape into the air
overhead, and thus lessen the chance of injuring the
gun's crew. So far is this feeling acknowledged that
provision is being made in the drawings for the
shields of Capt. Coles's ship for the substitution of
the 95 cwt. smooth bore gun for the 100 pounder
Amstrong, should the closing of the breech of the
latter continue in the same uncertain state as it is
at present.

A fourth and final trial of the machinery-of the
screw
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last,place
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the supervision of Captain Key, Mr. Steil, of the
Indus, and Mr. Ward, assistant-engineer from
Keyham Steamyard. At the previous trials it
was found that a great strain existed at the valve,
through which a proper equilibrium did not prevail.
This defect was attributed to the fact that the
cylinder faces were of brass. A ring was, in conse-
quence, introduced on the back of the valve with
springs attached to it, and a complete equilibrium
has been thus obtained. On Monday there was a
fine breeze from the south-east, and the Phcebe was
taken round the Eddystone lighthouse for the pur-
pose of ascertaining if the machinery was in proper
condition for active service. The engines, direct air-
pump, are by Messrs. R. Napier and Sons, of Glas-
gow, who were represented by Mr. Brown. They
aro of 500 horse power nominal ; diameter of cylin-
der, 65in.; and length of stroke, 3ft. Gin. The
length of the shaft is 96ft. ; diameter, 12in. The
diameter of screw, Griffiths' is 15 ft. ; pitch 22ft.;
and length, 3ft. The engines were worked on Mon-
day up to an indicated power of 1,900 horses ; re-
volutions, 61 per min. ; pressure per square inch,
201 h. ; and vacuum, 251,-in. The results appeared
to obtain the approbation of the inspectors, who
were also well satisfied with the ventilation of the
engineers' department throughout. The tempera-
ture was tested on three several occasions, which
produced an average in the engine room of 64 deg. ;
in the stoke-hole aft, 81; amidships, 87; and for-
ward, 91. On deck the temperature was 52 through-
out.
The Vigilant, 4, screw steam sloop, E:200 horse
ne left
power, Master in charge G. A. Maefarla
Julia, 60 horse
Sheerness on Saturday last, with the