The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-12 00:00:00

BI'EAM GUN-BOATS FOR THE BALTIC.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sla'— Prom the tenour of your articles on the fore
going subject, I assume that you feel its importance as
strongly
as I do, in common with many of my brother
°facers who have the honour of the service at heart. In
n2oseqnence of my name having been mentioned in Mr.
beott Russell's letter to the Times, to which you also
gars a place in your edition last evening, I feel it due
to hin, that I should lose no time in corroborating that
part of his statements which referred to myself, and this I
(411 in a letter to the Times, which circumstance led me
to hope would have appeared in this day's edition of
that paper, whichl,take in. Ido not find it.
P ossibly, it arrived too late, and may yet appear. Be
that as it it is due to Mr. Russell and the occasion
that I should explain, without losing time. I regret
rell I kept no copy. Time did not permit. But I believe
hean generally state its contents. It showed how upon
first-rate
that contracts had been taken by some of our
'l'4-rate ship-builders, for what I have no doubt would
Prove a very excellent class of gun vessels, if approved
by eminent surveyor of the navy, but fearing their
being made of wood, and shaving deep keels, would
cause them to draw more water than the class of
vessels I knew to be in possession of foreign powers
/I'6ol were built in England, I interested myself pri-
-I:atelY with parties in power, with whom I had reason
think I had some degree of influence. I showed how,
,11 anticipation of being called upon for further information,
requested Mr. Russell to let me know whether, if re-
quired to do so, he could take in hand and quickly get
°lit any number of vessels similar to the Nix and Sala-
mander, both of which vessels had been examined by
myself. His answer I sent to the proper authorities.
It described the power of these vessels, and compared
them with our line-of-battle ship launches—the only
gun-boats the admirals at present have for shoal water
operations. I spoke from experience on the Tagus,
where I had the honour to command the flap-ship's
i auriell, one of a flotilla, gallantly and ably commanded
by the present Admiral Berkeley—then a lieutenant of
the flag-ship.
It Compared the speed of these launches with the
speed of the steamers five miles on a spirt, when nerves
Were unshaken by the whizzing and splashing of the
enemy's shot, and crabs not being caught, and that spirt
always depending on wind and muscle as to its duration,
about 11 miles the average to 15 miles an hour of the
Steareer, without nerves to shake, and never wanting
wind. It compared armaments, and showed how the
broadsides of the Nix or Salamander were more than
equal to the one gun from all the launches of twenty
sail of the line. It showed how any wooden
tiling of the scantling of a row gun-boat would be
out in two if overtaken, or getting athwart hawser
of the steamer ; how, if they ventured to hook on at full
speed, if they were not towed under or smashed by the
rapidly-revolving wheels, their guns would be useless
and their crews exposed to all sorts of missiles ; and it
showed how, the draught of water being nearly the same,
the row-boats with heavy guns at any rate could be fol-
lowed wherever they went. It then drew a comparison
between the Tagus and the Danube, and asked how, if
our army got possession of one bank, they would feel
themselves situated with the enemy in possession of a
large flotilla, and among them the steam-vessel Pruth,
built by Laird of Birkenhead, while we had no gun-vessel
of light draught enough to enter the river except the boats
of the fleet.—l have the honour to remain your obedient
servant, C. CLAXTON.
Battersea, May 12.