The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-26 00:00:00

(>77,ar(e_eZ.,

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No. 22,940

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 26, 1865.

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dent to young writers or a youthful period of literature.
A vast amount of trash will be thrown away; but there
is no doubt that out of all this movement we will discover
many fine authors. We must not expect the full " sun-
burst " of a new and grand era of American literature all
at once. We are in the midst of a revolution yet. But
it will undoubtedly come, as the natural consequence of
the intellectual excitement of the time, and we think we
perceive the first faint streaks of the dawn of such. a
period.—New York, Herald.

The Reorganisation of the French Fleet.

--..._

The Avenir National of. Saturday contains the
following article upon the reorganisation of the
French fleet :

" It is easier to plan retrenchments than to carry
them out. It will be remembered that when
the budget of the War Department recently un-
derwent a slight reduction, the Minister of Ma-
rine, yielding to the pressure of circumstances,
ordered the disarmament of a certain number of
the vessels of our ironclad fleet. But a despatch,
published in our impression of last Wednesday,
mentions as a positive fact the reorganisation of that
fleet upon a new basis. This altogether recent deci-
sion could not fail to be received with favour in oui
three grand naval ports—Toulon, Brest, and Cher-
bourg. The inhabitants of thoseports and the autho-
rities who superintend the construction or the
arrangements of our squadrons have the greatest in-
terest in the country disarming a little as possible.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Marquis de
Chasseloup-Laubat, towards whom the grievances
of the engineers and the officers of our navy finally
converge, have set their heart upon the adoption of
a very different system than that of disarmament.
We are told that that system will permit the re-
trenchments recognised as indispensable to be made
without in any way compromising the maritime
power of our country. If this were so we should not
be the last to applaud ; but we must be permitted to
doubt it if the details published on the subject by
the papers of the south are to be believed. There
are henceforth to be four squadrons instead of two
—the ironclad squadron of the Channel, assembled
at Cherbourg ; the ironclad Atlantic squadron,. at
Brest ; the ironclad Mediterranean squadron, at
Toulon ; and a squadron of reserve, consisting of
four iron-plated frigates. This doubtless does not
form a larger naval force ; but such a division can-
not fail to increase expenses, as we are about to
show. The Channel squadron, consisting of the
two-decked spur-ship of the line Magenta and the
frigates Heroine and Flandre, will leave Cher-
> ourg next March for Toulon, in order to take
part, as has been mentioned, in the trial of a sys-
tem of naval tactics contained in a new treatise by
Vice-Admiral Bouet-Willaumez. Those experi-
ments are all very well ; but to effect them a large
quantity of coal must be burnt. If the ships which
are about to be sent from the Channel to the
Mediterranean had been simply kept in the roadstead
much more considerable saving would certainly have
been effected. The Mediterranean squadron, com-
prising the two-decked spur-vessel Solferino with
the frigates Provence and Savoie, are to receive a
new sort of artillery consisting of 50-pounder guns
mounted on carriages of an improved kind, which
step opens a new chapter of expenditure. As to the
Atlantic squadron, it is not yet formed, and there
is thus no means of effecting savings while' pushing
forward with the greatest activity' the fitting out
of the f rigates Magnanime, V aleureuse, and Gauloise.
Let there be no mistake as to the sense of our ob-
servations. We do not mean to say that it was
wrong to stop the disarming of the French iron-
cased fleet. The fact is evident that France has
allowed herself to be outstripped by England in
matters of artillery. The French types of armour-
plating pierced through with portholes have been
an error for which the country has paid dearly, and
which will still cost much more money. But the
harm has been done, and must be repaired. The
creation of the reserve squadron is the consequence
of another error which has affected the nautical
qualities of several of the French frigates, and which
was made apparent by the last voyage of the experi-
mental fleet. The forming of a fourth squadron
was therefore found necessary ; it is composed. of
the Couronne, Normandie, Gloire, and Invincible,
which vessels will now be rarely sent to the open
sea, but will serve for the trial of heavy artillery
near the coasts. And since we are speaking of the
late cruise of the squadron of evolutions, let us give
some details which are but little known to the public.
During the night of the 13th November last, the
Mediterranean fleet was on its way from Ajaccio to
Toulon, with a strong breeze from north-east. The
wind was favourable, butthe sea of the Gulf of Genoa
is trying, and the result was a serious damage to
some of the iron-cased frigates. While the steam
despatch boat Caton, built on the old system, and the
Admiral's ship Solferino (plated in the middle only,
and vulnerable at the two extremities), bore them-
selves with ease, the Couronne, Gloire, Provence,
and invincible suffered greatly. The first of those
armour-plated frigates lost all her outside boats, one
of which, striking the deck of the vessel, killed one
man and wounded several others. The Gloire gave
rise to great uneasiness from the quantities of water
she shipped in rolling. The Provence lost two boats,
and the Invincible, being in serious danger, was
obliged to abandon her post and run to the coast for
shelter. Similar incidents had already occurred
last summer. In fine, two years ago, on the occa-
sion of the experiments made in September and
October, 1863, by the French' iron-cased ships, the
nautical defects of those frigates had been ascer-
tained. A committee, presided over by Vice-
Admiral Panaud, followed with much attention the
comparative experiments executed at that period
between the coast of France and the Canary Isles.
That body did not dissimulate the defects observed
during the voyage ; but the country was not allowed
to read the report of its servants. An article, care-
fully written, and published shortly after in one of
the principal reviews, instead of enlightening the
public, only showed things in a light favourable to
the error which had been committed. Thus, instead
of being able at the present moment to enter on that
course of saving so often spoken of, a necessity
exists of studying the subject further and incurring
fresh expenses. In fact the absolute want of con-
trol has allowed the Ministry of Marine to go astray
by fellowing almost exclusively the views of M.
Dupuy-de-Lome. The admitted talent of that
engineer is not here brought into question.
o Butto
confide to the same person the triple task f con-
structor, artillery officer, and seaman was an error.
In the first of those duties alone M. Dupuy-de-
Lome is free from reproach. The movement which
has been decided on in the French naval force was
choantsttahnetlryesuiil required,wl
but no one can be persuaded
be an economy.

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NEWSPAPER

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to the Right Hon. the Lords of the
Privy Council for Trade :
My Lords—l have, in conjunction with Captain
Harris and Hight, as nautical assessors, held the
_ _ _

inquiry ordered by your lordships into the loss of

the steamship Barbadian upon the Blackwater
Bank on the Gth of Dec. last. The Barbadian was

i
an iron screw steamer, built at South Shields n
1856, of 950 tons gross, with two engines of 150-
horse power, and was owned by the West India
and Pacific Steam Company (Limited.) She was
commanded by Mr. James Graham, who held a
certificate of competency, and a crew of 35, all told;
she had on board three first-class passengers, and
one consular passenger, who was carried free. She
had a general cargo of about 500 tons, and was
bound to Barbadoes and other West Indian ports.
The Barbadian sailed from Liverpool at noon on
the sth of December, under charge
,of a pilot, who
left at the Bell Buoy at two p.m. At nine p.m.
the South Stack was abeam, according to the evi-

dente of the officer of the watch, her course being
then S. W. and by W., which was continued till
midnight at a speed of about 91 knots. At 12.15
a.m. on the Gth, the quartermaster, who had come
on watch at midnight, came to the con, and found
the course W. by S., which was continued tillwithin

a very short time of striking. At four a.m. the
second mate again came on deck, found the course

as just stated, and saw a revolving light two
points abaft the starboard beam, which he wa3
informed by the chief mate was the Tuskar. In

a few minutes a bright fixed light was discovered

on the port bow. The helm was put a-star-
-

board, -and light reported to the captain, who

came upon the-bridge,
and having looked at it
for a short time, steadied the ship at W.S.W. The

captain then went below, leaving directions to be
called at 8 a.m., or in case the ship neared the land.
In about a quarter of an hour the ship struck on
what proved to be the Blackwater Bank. No sound-
ing were taken either before or after the disaster.

The engines were ordered to be reversed, but became
at once disabled, and they proceeded to get out the
boats. In a few hours the ship parted in two.
Twenty-five persons were eventually saved, of whom
four were taken from the mizen rigging on the after

noon of the 7th, by the Rosslare lifeboat, after 27
hours' exposure. The captain, first mate, and four
other persons took refuge on the forecastle, from
whence they were seen by the men on the mizen rig-
ging to be washed away about noon. This is the fourth
inquiry into casualties to vessels which have struck
upon the Irish coast within the last few weeks ; and
though in one case before the same court the evidence
was such that no positive conclusion could be arrived
at as to the cause of lose, there can be no doubt that
in two of the cases, and in this, the disaster arose from
bad navigation, and a total neglect of the lead. This
is not a question of either tides or lights or com-
passes. If the whole eastern coast of Ireland was
made to bristle with lights, and masters of vessels

still continued to persist in steering a westerly instead
of a southerly course after rounding the South Stack,
and before they are clear of the Tuskar, while a
channel between 30 and 40 miles wide in its narrowest
part is open to them, these casualties will continually
occur, and the morse so if, when indications of dan-
ger appear, the lead, which is, or ought to be, always
at hand, is utterly disregarded as if it were useless
lumber. In this case it is almost incredible that the
low light on the Arklow Lightship should have been
taken for the Tuskar, as there is a considerable dif-
ference in the revolutions of the two lights ; or the
bright light of the Blackwater for that of the
Saltees, which exhibits two lights, especially when
they ought to have known, from the course and dis-
tance run from the Stack, it was utterly impossible
they could have been near the Tuskar. Nor
would any allowance for tide make an error of
above thirty miles in their calculation, in so short
a period of time, as to account for the position in
which they supposed themselves to be when the cap-
tain shaped a course to the W.S.W., under the be-
I lief that he had passed the Tuskar, and was then
rounding the Saltees. While my assessors and I feel
it to be an imperative duty, in the interest of public
safety, to speak thus plainly, and to point out as
clearly as possible the errors which have caused the
loss of so many vessels, and, in this instance, have
produced so lamentable a loss of life, we cannot but
regret that we are compelled to say anything which
may call in question the seamanship of men who
have lost their lives in the catastrophe, and cannot
Ibe heard in their own defence. The evidence of the
survivors is, however, too conclusive to leave a doubt
on our minds that the Barbadian was lost by a re-
petition of the fatal error of bearing away to the
westward too soon and disregarding the lead. In
the course of the inquiry it transpired that the Bar-
badian sailed without the requisite certificate under
the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, for vessels carry-
ing passengers ; but it was explained that the ship
had been surveyed and re-swung to adjust:compasses,

and the usual declaration had been made, but not
exchanged for the certificate of the Board of Trade.
As this circumstance has been already brought to
the knowledge of the Board, it is only necessary for
me thus incidentally to allude to it, as it has no
bearing on the loss of the ship.—l have the honour
to be, &c.,
T. S. RAFFLES, Police Magistrate.
Liverpool, Dec. 21, 1865.
We concur in this report.
HT. HARRIS,
, Nautical Assessors.
EDWARD HIGHT, )