The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-06 00:00:00

EFFECTIVE NAVAL FORCE OF BRITAIN.

( From the Times. )
In the present state of affairs abroad it becomes
a matter of general interest to the people of this
country to ascertain, as far as possible, the condi-
tion of the effective naval forces at our disposal ;
and, from the increased activity which has been
visible for some time past in the dockyards, we
have no doubt that the Admiralty will be prepared
to meet with the utmost promptitude all the de-
mands which may be made upon the service. We
understand that it is the intention of the Govern-
ment to raise the number of seamen and marines
for the current year to 53,500 men, which is an in-
crease of about 8,000 on the lumber voted for last
year, and a' further addition to the 5,000 men
raised under the orders of Lord Derby's Admini-
stration. The total increase in the navy since 1852
may therefore be stated at 13,000 men. Of the
force now to be raised for the service of the fleet
38,000 will be seamen and boys, and 15,500 ma-
rines. The unabated demand. for ships and sea-
men in the merchant service, which is attribut-
able to the extraordinary increase of our exports
and imports, may render it a work of some diffi-
culty summarily to raise so large an additional force,
but, on the other hand, the improved condition of
the seaman under the last regulations of the navy,
the chance of prize money, and the call of the
country are additional inducements to volunteer
for the service. A large proportion of our sea-
faring men are always abroad, and probably not
more than 20,000 seamen, except those serving in
the navy, are at any one moment in England.
Some time must therefore elapse before the demands
of the service are known to the class of men whom
they most concern ; but the manner in which 5,000
additional seamen have been raised iu the past
year, without any extraordinary. stimulus, warrants
the belief that the sailors of England will not be
wanting to the flag of their conntry.
• The present moment is remarkable for other
reasons in the annals of the naval service, since it
is destined to witness the transformation of the
fleet into a steam navy. No one of the tens of
thousands who were present at the naval review at
Spithead in August last could doubt the expe-
diency and necessity of the application of steam
power to the largest ships. Already on that oc-
casion a considerable squadron of line-of-battle
ships moved by screw propellers was collected ;
but this force has since been largely increased, and
our readers will peruse with interest a list of the
line-of-battle ships and frigates now afloat and
moved by this powerful mechanism :

Guns. H.p.
Duke of Wellington 131 700 Western Squadron.
Royal George
St Jean d'Acre
Agamemnon 9l 600 Bosphorus.
Comer 9O 400 Not in commission.
Cressy
James Watt 9O 600 Not in commission.
Majestic
Nile
Princess Royal
Sanspareil 7O 350 Bosphorus.
Ajax
Blenheim 6O 450 Guardship (Portsmouth).
Hogue
Edinburgh
Arrogant
Imperieuse
Amphion 34 300 Western Squadron.
Horatio 2l 250 Guardship (Sheerness).
Tribune 3O 300 Western Squadron.
Dauntless 24 580 Portsmouth.
Highflyert 2l 250 Mediterranean.
Euryalus
The above are all screw steam-ships ; but to
thege may be added the fallowing, among the snore
powerful paddle-wheel steamers now afloat
Guns. H.p.
Terrible 2l 800 Bosphorus.
Sidon 22 560 Bosphorus.
Odin l6 560 Western Squadron.
Retribution
Valorous
Furious l6 400 Bosphorus.
Leopard
Magicienne
Penelope
We omit vessels of an inferior class, and
those we have named all deserve to be ranked as
powerful frigates.
In addition to these lists, the following screw
steam-ships are building, and will probably be afloat
in a few months :

Horse Power.
I•• 400

Guns.
Royal Albert
Marlborough
Conqueror
Orion . 9O
Repulse
Hannibal
Algiers 9O
Exmouth 9O
Hero 9O
Forte
Chesapeake 5O
Curacoa
San Fiorenzo
It appears from these returns that, setting
aside the whole sailing fleet of England, we
have at present afloat 11 steam little-of-battle
ships, soon to be increased to 20, 5 guard-ships
with auxiliary steam power, and 7 frigates fitted
with screw propellers, which may be considered
(with one or two exceptions) the finest vessels ever
launched of their. class. Of these screw line-of-
battle ' ships only two (the Sauspareil and the
Agamemnon) are in the Turkish waters, and the-
former of these two vessels does not, we fear,
. altogether answer to her name. The greater num-
ber of those already in commission belong to Ad-
miral Corry's division, which is termed by the
Admiralty the Western Squadron, though it may
be considered to be on an experimental cruise ; and
four are still waiting for commission. So that,

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