The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-13 00:00:00

680 6,420 4,030

SCREW FRIGATES.

Guns.
50
47
34 ...
30 ...

The Imperieuse
The Arrogant .
The Atnphion
The Tribune

Men, Horsa-power. Tons.
530 ._ 360 ... 2,347
450 ._ 360 -. 1,872
320 -. 300 -.1,474
300 -. 300 .- 1,570

161 1,600 1,320 7,263
PADDLE-WHEELS.
Guns. Men. Horse-power. Tons.
18 280 ... 560 1,412
6 ... 200 ... 560 ... 1,270

The Leopard
The Dragon
The Bulldog
Valorous

6 ...
... 16 ~.

160 ". 500 ... 1,123
220 ... 400 _1,255

860 2,020 5,060

There is thus not a single ship in the division depend-
ent upon sails alone for propulsion, while there are 12,
including all the liners and the four largest frigates,
which, being screws, al e equally available as steamers or
sailing-vessels, or as both combined. In looking down
the list those who are conversant with naval matters will
readily distinguish for themselves the old from the new,
the fast from the slow, and the general characteristics
and antecedents of each. For the general public, how-
ever, who have not that special knowledge, it may be
interesting to state that the Duke of Wellington, the St.
Jean d'Acre, the Princess Royal, the Imperieuse, and
the Tribune are those most recently teamed out from our
dockyards ; that the Blenheim ; Ilogue, Ajax, and Edin-
burgh have recently been employed is blockships ; and
that the Amphion and the Arrogant were among the
first, if not the first, men-of-war fitted with the screw.
The Royal George was built at Chatham so long ago
as 1827 ' • the Blenheim, the Ajax, and the Edinburgh
have all borne the brunt of war service already, the
last especially, having been at St. Jean d'Acre ; so
that Sir Charles Napier takes with him to the Baltic
at least one strong memento of former triumphs to
help him in gaining new ones. The four paddle-
wheel frigates will no doubt serve useful purposes
in the fleet, though their construction is less favo9r-
able for fighting than the screws. Of these, the
Division contains the earliest and the latest ex-
amples in the service, the difference of speed between
the Amphion, which was adapted to tlat form of pro-
pulsion in 1846. and the Tribune, wEich was built at
Sheerness in 1853, serving to show tilt progress which
has been made in the last seven years. The most
splendid and perfect specimen of nava, architecture in
the Division, and in every way worths of the flag-ship
of the Baltic fleet, is unquestionably the Duke of' Wel-
lington. She furnished a striking contrast to the
Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer the Madrid,
which, shining in all the splendour of fresh paint, and
puffing out volumes of angry steam, formed no incon-
siderable feature of the marine spectacle in Spithead to-
day. The great man-of-war lay silett and grim, with
an air of reserved strength difficult to rouse into
action, but terrible when awakened. The commercial
leviathan glided easily about with a conscious power of
her own which she made no secret of showing, while
her fiery-red roaring funnels seemed to growl out the
whole wrath of the country at Rtssian aggression.
One other observation before the new which Spithead
and Portsmouth to-day presented is ascribed. The ex-
pedition with which the first division has been prepared
for sea is pronounced by all who are nost competent to
judge as highly creditable to the doccyard authorities;
and, if this compliment be deserve', it may be re-
garded as the first-fruits which the 'Wien has enjoyed
of that new system of making appcintments and pro-
motions which Lord Auckland and sir Francis Baring
introduced, and which Sir Baldwin Walker so stoutly
defended while the last Adminisbation held office.
When it is considered what an anima of work is in-
volved in the construction and convilete equipment of
even one war-steamer, those resources cannot be very
ill husbanded by which we are enabled to send 18 to the
Baltic at so early a moment ; and, though that result
must be regarded as arising from previously existing
facilities rather than created by toe occasion, many
strong indications exist that the tree uses of our dock-
yards are being at length properly d€ned and developed
especially on points where the resocroes of private esta•
blishnleuts can be brought in aid of them.
Fine weather, a °leas bright sky, awl a steady west