The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-02 00:00:00

attention solely directed to Portugal, and there is
every reason to believe that they will do -their ut-
tatig to erect the measure they have so much at
heart with reference to the King of Portugal.

SHARE-MARKEITS.—(THLs DAlr),

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THE SUN, LONDON, rilvnsplAy EVENING, FEBRUARY 2, 1854.

STEA.IIIERIS.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and
the Master-General and Board of Ordnance having
decided that a mixed committee of officers, con-
sisting of Colonel Colquhoun, ILA., inspector of
the royal carriage department ; Commander Jer-
ningham, R.N., and Mr. Henry Chatfield, should
assemble to consider how far it may be- possible to
carry into effect a plan for arming the contract
mail packet steamers, and to report whether the
terms of their contract have been observed by the
several companies as regards the preparation of
their vessels for war purposes, have reported as
follows :

Sir,--In pursuance of instructions received *by us
from the Honourable Boards of Admiralty and Ordnance
to consider the question of arming mail contract steam=
packets, on an emergency, for purposes a war, we have
the honour to report to you that our attention has
been directed in the first instance (as propoied in our
letter of the Bth of June last) to the Peninsular and
Oriental and the Royal West/India Mail Packet Com-
panies.
We find that the total number of vessels possessed
by these companies amount to 53, whose aggregate
tonnage and horse-power are as follows : .
Peninsular and Oriental Company.—Vessels=wood,
11 ; iron, 22 ; total, 33. Tonnage—wood, 12,800 ;
iron, 26,449; total, 39,249. Horse power— wood, 4,086;
iron, 7,481 ; total, 11,567. ,
Royal West India Mail Packet Company.—VesselS—
wood, 19 ; iron, 1 ; total, 20. Tonnage—wood, 32,612 ;
iron, 2,720 ; total, 35,332. Horse power—wood, 8,750;
iron, 800; total, 9,550..
Total.—Vessels, 53 ; tonnage, 74,581; horse power,
21,117. ,
Not any of these vessels would, in our opinion, be-
come efficient substitutes for regular men-of-war.
Some of them might be made auxiliary to war pur-
poses ; constituting, as it were, part of a naval militia,
under a very pressing necessity, for home service, but
we should think them better calculated for armed packets
and armed troop-ships.
Out of 53 vessels, including wood and iron, only 16
are employed between Southampton and foreign ports ;
23 are employed interoolonially ; 6 are under repair ; 8
building ; and five on an average in port at a time fit
for sea. Two out of the five are vessels of inferior cha-
racter, employed in the Peninsular service. -, .
Out of the sixteen vessels plying between Southamp-
ton and foreign ports five are of iron (Madrid, Ripon,
Sultan, Bombay, Madras), and three (Jupiter, Iberia,
and agus) are considered incapable of carrying an
efficient armament, being much inferior in tonnage and
horse-power to the vessels generally of the two com-
panies, and having raised poops and forecastles with
other obstructions to carrying and fighting guns.
There remain, therefore, only eight (wooden) vessels
out of the sixteen which we consider capable of being
efficiently fitted to receive an armament for war pur-
poses on an emergency ; and that number would become
gradually available as they return home, in succession,
within periods varying from three to nine weeks. But
here we would remark, that if any of these vessels were
taken up by the Government, the mail packet compa-
nies might experience great difficulty in replacing them,
more particularly since Government would be first in
the market, and there would be a great demand for
ships to afford the earliest means of communicating the
news of hostilities, or of reinforcing the colonies with
men and stores.

The remaining 37, with the exception of those building
and under repair (which in the month of June amounted
to 14), are employed intercolonially, or otherwise per-
manently employed.
At this period of our report we think it right to invite
attention to the fact that there are no less than 22 out
of 33 vessels belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental
Company of iron.
These 22 vessels have all been built since 1843, to
the exclusion of wooden vessels, with the exception of
only two, now building, of 910 tons each.
Had we considered the iron vessels in other respects
suitable for men-of-war, we should have hesitated to
recommend them for that service, on account of the ma-
terials of which they are built.
We do not consider that we are called upon to express
an opinion as to the fitness of iron-vessels for war pur-
poses ; at the same time, the question as to the propriety
of using that material in the construction of armed mail
steam-packets will become important when we shall
have to report upon the "General Screw Steam Ship-
ping Company," which will shortly possess eight vessels
of 1,800 tons each, the whole of which will be of iron.
Our opinion of the qualities of the packets generally
belonging to the two companies now under considera-
tion, and of their fitness to be armed for purposes of
war, is derived from a personal inspection of the fol-
lowing vessels (twenty-one in number), as they have
severally returned to the port of Southampton, which
osere. Names. Tons. Power.we think may be considered to afford the means by
orse
which we may fairly judge of those at present abroad :
Tons. Power.:
Parana
Orinoco 2,900 800 Magdalena .... 2,943 800
Bentinck 1,974 520 La Plata
Severn
Jupiter 543 210 Tagus
Avon l,BBO 440 Iberia
Conway
Teviot
Madras 1,210 288 Rumble 1,165 400
Sultan
Thames 1,889 400, s
Our opinion is, that the ships of these companies can
never be regarded as efficient gubstitutes for regular
men-of-war ; and that opinion is based on the following
considerations :
First. Their sharp form of bow to promote speed,
continued upwards as it is to the height of the port-sills
renders it impossible to point and elevate guns in the
line of keel.
Secondly. Their rake of stern would render it dange-
rous to fire a gun when elevated, more particularly
when trained from a fore and.aft line.
Thirdly. These vessels having been designed entirely
for steam propuls•cip and passenger accommodation, all
other purposes hAve been made subservient to those ends.
Hence we find that they are greatly under-masted ; that
they have a height between decks unnecessary for men-
of-war ; that they appropriate more than the space
usually allowed for engine room and the stowage of
coal in her Majesty's ships ; and the consumption of
fuel on board these vessels, say Parna class, amounting
to about 80 tons of coal per diem, would become agrave
question with the Government when estimated at per
gun, considering how few guns it is proposed to place
on board these vessels in relation to their tonnage in
comparison with regular men-of-war.
We find, too, that no attention has been paid to the
importance that should be attached to the exposure of
the engines, boilers, and steam chest to shot, which,
though in some degree unavoidable in ail paddle-wheel
steamers, appears to exist in these vessels to a most
dangerous extent.
Further, the paddle-wheels are usually of enormous
size and weight, rendering them very vulnerable, and
presenting a great impediment when under sail. That
none of them carry paddle-box boats, and that if these
were fitted in so elevated a position it would cause the
vessel to roll deeply and labour in heavy weather, and
that the height and space for saloon and cabin accommo-
dation is quite disproportionate to the requirements of
a man-of-war.
We are apprehensive, from what we can learn of the
qualifications of these vessels, that the stability of some
of them, after a certain consumption of coal, is already
very questionable, and that increased masts and yards,
with the addition of an armament, would render them
still more deficient in that important property.
To correct so serious an evil it would be necessary to
introduce ballast, and to diminish proportionably the
stowage of coal.
We may also observe that the additional weight to
the armament, masts, yards, rigging, water, stores, pro-
visions, &c., would increase the displacement, and im-
merse the paddle-wheels so as to affect the speed, unless
a still further reduction were made in the quantity of
coal to lighten the ship.
A total change in the internal economy of the ship
would result from these circumstances, and it is doubt-
ful, after all, whether the ship would have capacity to
receive and displacement to sustain the armament,
water, provisions, and stores required to be supplied to
her Majesty's ship for a given period. •
It appears to the committee to be desirable, should
the Lords Commissioners approve of a provision for
armament being made, that a clause in future contracts
be introduced to that effect ; and we also consider it to
be important that another clause should be inserted,
requiring that vessels which have been prepared for the
armament under the authority of the Admiralty, with
the right of pre-emption on such terms as the Lords
Commissioners may think fit to agree to.
To make the whole of the necessary alterations now
would incur an enormous outlay, without making those
vessels after all, in our opinion, efficient men-of-war
that is to say, we should not think them competent to
cope with an enemy of equal rating or tonnage, and
consequently that arming these vessels and calling them
vessels of war might involve the credit of the British
flag, if subjected to any reverse, by affording a pretext
for superior skill on the part of an enemy where tonnage
and horse-power would be taken as a comparison of
force, and their inefficiencies as men-of-war would not
appear to be the real cause.
10. After taking a deliberate view of the whole ques-
tion submitted to us, we have arrived at the conclusion
that the ships referred to, provided they could be spared,
would serve the purposes of armed troop ships, and
might occasionally be used, in the event of war, in our
colonies abroad.
That for this purpose, and to enable them to perform
their duty as packets, they should be prepared to be
armed with guns of sufficient calibre for self-defence.
To provide for this, we do not think it proper that an
emergency should be waited for, but would propose that
they be fitted as opportunities occur while under repair
for the ariaanient hereafter mentioned, and be pierced
with as many ports (including the cargo ports) as would
admit of working the whole of the broadside guns on
either side.
Further, that a magazine and shell-room of sufficient
capacity be provided,
• and that these be arranged so as
to suit the ordinary service of the ship.
it would be a case
of view of an emergency re, that
of sudden and immediate effort in which time could not
.k required to be performed
be spared, and that any work
would not be either so well or so economically executed
as when it could be more leisurely attended to. Nor
could we recommend reliance being placed privateo
yards to despatch, at such a time,
ork to which they
had been accustomed, though by proper direction on the
part of Government no difficulties at other times would
be experienzed.
In considering the number and nature of guns which
these vessels should carry, we have deemed it important

to select ordnance of such calibre as are commonly used
in her Majesty's navy, confining ourselves to one class
of 8-inch and 32-pounder guns to facilitate the supplies
of ammunition from her Majesty's ships and arsenals on
foreign stations ; and we have adhered, as far as prac-
ticable, to the rec,immendation contained in our instruc-
tions, of rendering them capable of being transferred, so
that the equipment may fit any ship of the same class.
We consider that the armament of a packet ship
should be especially directed to the object of defence,
and that for this purpose it should include, if possible, a
pivot gun in the stern.
But we have found impracticable, in almost all cases,
to fit a pivot gun, either forward or abaft, on account of
the sharp form of bow and great rake of stern.
The armaments which we propose as being best adapted
to the packets generally are as follows :
First Class Armament.-2 of 8-inch calibre, 65 cwt.,
and 9 feet long ; 6 of 32-pounder calibre, 42 cwt., and
8 feet long.
Second Class Armament.-2 of 8-inch calibre, 65 cwt.,
and 9 feet long ; 4 of 32-pounder calibre, 42 cwt., and
8 feet long.
The guns to be mounted on the broadside on truck
carriages. The two foremost and two aftermost may be
transported to fight as bow or stern guns ; and it is pro-
posed to pierce each vessel with a sufficient number of
ports to fight the whole of the armament, if necessary,
on either side of the ship.
We consider. that provision should be made for 40
rounds of shot per gun; and that shells be supplied in
addition, as follows, namely, if pivot guns be introduced,
20 rounds of shells per pivot gun ; but if the 8-inch guns
be mounted on truck carriages, it is proposed, in that
case, to supply 10 shells for each 8-inch gun so mounted,
with the usual proportions of grape and case shot as
supplied to her Majesty's ships. The small arms, pikes,
and cutlasses should be suited to arm the crew, and
e. passengers usually carried, in
average number of -mai
the proportion of two-thirds of what would be allowed
to the same number on board her Majesty's ships, and
that the small arm ammunition should be one-half that
proportion.
To put these vesseli in a condition to carry and fire
the guns assigned to them, it is estimated that the ex-
pense of alterations and fittings of ports, with a maga-
zine and shell-room, would vary from 6001. to 800 f.; and
it is submitted whether the fittings for receiving the
packet armament should not, in equity, be at the charge
of the company, but for the auxiliary armament at the
cost of the Government.
A great saving of expense would be effected by early
attention to the arrangements necessary for receiving an
armament. This remark specially applies to the two
vessels building at Cowes and Blackwall ; also to the
Avon, under repair at Northfleet, and the Clyde at this
port (Southampton).
We beg to make reference, as an example, to the ac-
companying drawings of the Clyde, showing proposed
fitments.

By permanently placing the bitts and capstan as there
laid down ; by constructing the deck-house for removal
altogether ; by working the tiller under the deck, and
by fitting the steering-wheel in such manner that it could
be shifted and placed before the wizen-mast, two pivot
guns could be worked as proposed and marked upon the
plan ; or, if wanted as a packet, one pivot gun only
need be carried, to be transported to bow or stern as
required.
The ports for working these guns, as well as the broad-
side ports, might be temporarily caulked in when not
required for use.
Shackle breeching-bolts and eye-bolts should be fitted
not only to.the broadside, but also to the cargo ports,
and by allowing the necessary space for transporting the
broadside guns in common carriages, not only fore and
aft, but also across the ship, the entire armament could
be worked on either side.

We are of ;opinion that this armament might consist
of two pivot guns, 8-inch, 65 cwt., and four 32-pounders
of 42 cwt. on common carriages ; and we suggest that
measures be takent o ascertain if, during the present op-
portunity of her repair, the Royal Mail Steam-packet
Company might we willing to consent to the alterations
required to fit her for the performance of the clause in
their contract so far as concerns four guns ; and on what
terms two other guns might be fitted. Such a mode of
procedure would tend to prepare, in turn, for self-de-
fence, all the West India mail packets, without disad-
vantage to the interests of the company.
In conclusion, we7would observe, by way of recapitu-
lation that the two companies have 53 vessels ; that 16
ply between Southampton and foreign ports ; that five, on
an average, are always at home, and fit for sea ; that
eight may be rendered available for war purposes on an
emergency, if they can be spared from the mail packet
service, within different periods, extending altogether
over 66 days ; that they would not make efficient sub-
stitutes for regular men-of-war ; that they might be
fitted for armed packets and armed troop-ships ; that it
would be prudent in future that the fittings be executed
beforehand ; that the fittings necessary to the nature of
proposed armaments (including magazines and shell-
rooms) would cost from 6001. to 8001. for first and
second-class vessels, if attended to while a vessel is in
progress of building, or undergoing a large repair, and
proportionably less for smaller vessels. That guns of
such calibre be used as are common in the Royal Navy
(viz., 8-inch guns of 65 cwt. and 32-pounders of 42 cwt.),
to facilitate the supplies, and render fittings and ordnance
stores transferable from ship to ship. That a store of
guns be kept at the port of Southampton (or Portsmouth),
with a proper proportion of ordnance and gunners'
stores, laid apart ready for an immediate call. That it
would be advisable to introduce a clause in the contracts,
giving the Admiralty a right of pre-emption, and pos-
sibly to prevent ,their sale, unless by permission, to a
foreign Power.